Director: Katharine O’Brien
Writer: Katharine O’Brien (Screenplay)
Starring: Juno Temple, Simon Pegg, Alexandra Daddario, Rebecca Hazlewood, Daisy Bishop, Jamie Harris
Plot: When an acclaimed music producer goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his friends chase him though the LA music scene to help commit him to a psychiatric hospital, revealing the troubling inadequacies of our mental health care system.
Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Lost Transmissions starts when call center girl Hannah (Temple) ends up receiving a call from music producer Theo Ross (Pegg), he invites her to perform seeing the talent she has for music, giving her the connections to find herself writing for megastar Dana Lee (Daddario).
What Hannah isn’t prepared for is learning about the schizophrenia that Theo goes through after he previously mixed up too many drugs, with people slowly moving away from him, Hannah is the latest one to help watch over him to protect himself from the danger he is causing to the people around him.
Thoughts on Lost Transmissions
Characters & Performances – Hannah is the young woman that is trying to find her feet in the world, given a big break with her music dreams, only to find herself helping a music producer who is struggling with a host of mental illnesses, being the person that will give him the most support in his time of need, as she tries to learn what caused him to become like this. Juno Temple is wonderful in the leading role here, showing the person that gives the most for a man in need. Theo is the big time music producer that has been struggling with his own mental health after a string of drug misuse, his friends have started to give up on him, as he desperately needs help from the people around him. He is spiralling out of control with the only person that will help him Hannah being the one that tries to find him the help he needs. Simon Pegg gives one of his best acting performances of his career here, where he shows the unstable character at his best and worst. The rest of the characters we meet are important to see how they react to Theo, some have tried others have given up on him, with the performances being great through the film.
Story – The story here follows a young woman that becomes friends with a music producer that is struggling with his own mental health problems, becoming the only person that will give him the time he needs to help him cope with the daily challenges. This is a story that will get to highlight a mix of the aftermath of drug abuse and mental health showing the two creating a nightmare world for the person and the people around them. We see how difficult it can be to find enough care for someone who doesn’t believe anything is wrong. We could have gotten more into the music side of the film, but the most important focus in the mental health side of everything.
Lost Transmissions is an important look at the modern day mental health problems people can suffer through.