Parallax--A beautiful young California painter named Naomi (Naomi Prentice) has suddenly gone near-catatonic. She's haunted by horrifying dreams of drowning, and she's afflicted with amnesia, not quite knowing Lucas (Nelson Ritthaler), the computer programmer fiance with whom she shares a pleasant California house.
Lucas, of course, thinks it's mental illness, but Naomi, and we in the audience, suspect she may be somehow plugged into a different reality. When she paints, she sometimes finds her way into the idyllic beaches or deserts on her canvasses. She meets other people in these painting-worlds, and experiences hints of an alternate version of her life.
This sci-fi drama, written and directed by Michael Bachochin, is a heavy exercise in "things are not as they seem." It has a polished look, but takes a while to get going, and we in the audience may be excused, I think, if we initially find Naomi's blank unresponsiveness as frustrating as Lucas does. Gradually, however, the movie does take hold, generating a quiet, moody sense of the sunlit SoCal sinister.
(Update: I have since been informed that this movie's scheduled release to theaters and drive-ins on July 10 was pulled due to COVID-19 concerns; when/if it is eventually released I'll update again.)
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