The Alternate – Movie Review
Director: Alrik Bursell
Writer: Alrick Bursell (Screenplay)
Cast
- Patrice Binaisa
- Phillip Caires
- Natalia Dominquez
- Syre McCarthy
- Ed Gonzalez Moreno
Plot: Upon unlocking a portal to an alternate dimension where all his dreams have come true, struggling filmmaker Jake is forced to confront his idealized self.
Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Alternate starts when struggling filmmaker Jake (Moreno) finds a strange object within his latest filming project. Jake starts investigating the object, making a startling discovery. As Jake starts exploring the object, he learns it is a portal to another dimension. One with a more successful version of himself.
Jake starts traveling between the two, telling his wife Kris (Dominquez) who isn’t impressed with his journeys. He starts blurring the lines between reality and finding himself getting into an affair with his wife in the other universe, who believes he is her husband. Is he ready for the consequences of his action?
Verdict on The Alternate
Characters
Jake is a struggling filmmaker, he gets distracted easily, which is why he only takes small jobs. He is desperate to get his own script written to make his own movie, which takes a strain on his marriage. When he discovers a portal, he starts getting obsessed with his discovery, learning of an alternate universe where he is successful. This sends him into the desire to live this life, trying to replace the other version of him. On the other hand, the successful Jake doesn’t know what has been happening and once he does, he needs to learn how to fix everything.
Kris is Jake’s wife in both dimensions, in the original universe, she is tired of working so hard to make ends meet, wanting Jake to help more. In the alternate universe, she is a loving mother on top of everything, living a nice successful life.
Performances
Ed Gonzalez Moreno in the leading role is fantastic, he takes on two versions of the same character. He shows the slacker side in one and the professional side in the other. In this performance, we see the desire for success, without putting in the work coming through strong. Natalia Dominguez also takes on two roles, where we see how her character must deal with the changes she only learns about afterwards.
Story
The story follows a struggling filmmaker that discovers a portal to another universe, one where he is successful and decides he would rather be in that world.
In a story that challenges the mind on how we should see parallel universes and if we went to one, we couldn’t change things. This offers up a chance to see what would happen if someone tried to replace someone. In the aftermath of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ this story challenges the idea that in an alternate you would have a different life.
This is a movie that isn’t afraid to challenge the audience to ask the bigger question. It shows the cause and effect of the action, seeing the consequences that will change lives forever.
Themes
The Alternate is a sci-fi horror movie that deals with a portal to another universe. One that would see a different life being lived and see how things would change if you interfered in them. It is a big sci-fi question, and one people will ask for years to come. When it comes to the effects in use, the portal itself looks great and the merging between the two worlds comes off very well too.
Final Thoughts – The Alternate is a sci-fi film that leaves you with plenty of questions about your own universe.
