Director: Matthew Ninaber
Writer: Jennifer Lloyd, Matthew Ninaber, Aaron Tomlin (Screenplay)
Starring: Jeremy Ninaber, Jehan Hashim, Melissa Joy Boerger, Eamon Hanson, Justin Moses, Ethan Mitchell, Aaron Tomlin
Plot: A financially struggling Josh pays to keep his disturbed sister hidden in a mental facility, as he tries to find a solution to their supernatural episodes, but someone has followed their destruction and hiding is no longer an option.
Tagline – It’s darkest within.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Simmers
Story: Transference starts as Josh (Ninaber) is looking for the latest solution for the help his sister Emma (Boerger) needs, currently local up under the care of Doug (Mitchell) mostly to hide her from the world, rather than solve the problems she is showing.
As Josh is pushed to new lengths to keep Emma safe, a mysterious biker tracks him, a doctor, Malcolm (Tomlin) offers to help and Josh’s own love interest Amanda (Hashim) must let him have enough space to do the right thing for his sister.
Thoughts on Transference
Characters – Josh has always wanted to keep his sister safe, he keeps her away from the world, with only one person stopping her unleashing what could cause her problems. He keeps himself to himself not wanting to become exposed for what he is doing, until he is forced into letting someone help. Emma is the sister that has been locked away from the world, she has an ability which could cause people harm and knows that she is dangerous to the world. Doug is the doctor that reluctantly helps Josh, even though he knows it isn’t doing any good for Emma, he suggests Malcolm to come in and help. Malcolm is a doctor that is asked to come and help with treating Emma, only he starts pushing in ways that doesn’t make Josh comfortable.
Performances – Jeremy Ninaber and Melissa Joy Boerger are both the highlights of the performances, as we see how the two work together and alone to show why they are doing each action through the film.
Story – The story here follows a brother who is keeping his sister away from the world because of the danger she could posses to the world if the wrong people get their hands on her and what happens when somebody gets too close. The story does have plenty of interesting ideas here, the problem comes with trying to hold too much back at times, we know there is an ability in question and we can see the aftermath, only we deal with more along the lines of ‘Midnight Special’ where it is the keeping everything safe, rather than getting into the personal issues early enough. The idea that we do get different people coming into Josh’s life does offer up plenty of different potential threats or friends.
Sci-Fi – The sci-fi side of this film does look at the ideas of power or abilities that people might have and the danger that could come to the world.
Settings – The film does use settings to show how Emma is kept away from the world, without needing to give us anything iconic for the film to use.
Scene of the Movie – Is it a dream?
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not unleashing the full power.
Final Thoughts – This is a sci-fi film with plenty of ideas that doesn’t get enough of the ideas getting unleashed, while having strong performances throughout.
Overall: Holds Too Much Back.
