Searching quality in stage plays such as “Proof” and “How I Learned to Drive” is a distinguishing feature of Mary-Louise Parker that propels her rise through the ranks of stage actors; it feels like there are worlds beyond where she is, and characters that can’t reach some places however much they try. She has also been good in films and TV too but on screen she doesn’t have the same chance to exhibit her interest about the unknown which becomes the main attraction of Bernardo Britto’s melancholic time travel drama, “Omni Loop,” stirring up mixed feelings like those felt by Zoya, played by Parker who has a week to live and has an option through a bottle containing blue pills taking her back five days at a time.
However, with Parker’s tactile imagination, Britto does not need much to sell the high concept of his sci-fi movie save for giving Zoya a black hole as her heart making doctors lose their wits. Her daughter Jayne (Hannah Pearl Utt) discovers this condition is most common among astronauts or people exposed to severe radiation. Even though she does not belong in any of those camps, Zoya wants out. Life has turned into one predictable repetition where all she does is celebrate 55th birthday every year while going to the beach and designing galley proofs for her physics textbook together with husband (Carlos Jacott).
One random change brings her into Paula (Ayo Edebiri) whom she bumps into after seeing one of her books with the girl; this happens when it becomes apparent that Paula studies metaphysics. Rather than continue learning from family members, Zoya finds hope for an alternative exit from this cycle path that would be built by removing everything she had learnt so far from spending time with them.
It is better not to think much about how all these adds up logically when Britto rather has interests on the emotional implications as opposed to scientific ones. However, a filmmaker introduces an interesting wormhole when he explores people’s attachments in the present in “Omni Loop” rather than focusing on chronological concerns, Zoya puts her peace of mind last by always ensuring that she prepares her family for her death more than once before dying. This reminds her what opportunities she might not have opened up so that she can keep what she has at hand during college days. In case she disregards her family now for later, it means that Julie would have had no other choice but to go after something which might be best for everyone else but her.
Those questions become even more immediate for Paula when she realizes there are notes from Princeton to use now and the possibility of going north in order to see an old classmate means getting further away again.
Zoya and Paula start testing theories at the local community college, but really they test each other, contemplating existential questions for which there are no satisfactory answers. Parker and Edebiri have a lovely rapport, but those hoping for comic sparks will not find them here- either through Britto’s previous rollicking feature “Jacqueline (Argentine)” or the presence of “The Bear” star in Omni Loop.” But also as a director with exceptional sensitivity, this film could be too mellow at some points when these two seem like they are talking in circles on their way to achieving inner peace.
In fact such serenity is established instantly by Britto together with talented crew who think about larger ideas at hand. The smooth addition of slightly surrealistic details keeps the focus on Zoya’s ability to arrive at sound conclusions from the intelligent use of Miami’s brutalist architecture in film until Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s tender lilting electronic score adds another dimension. Her ability becomes even more apparent as the film progresses, with all its human creativity displayed within its very fabric. At the same time, it is laudable that “Omni Loop” forces one to think less about what secrets the universe may be holding and rather focuses on such smaller ones around us.
The mood of calm is immediately created by Britto and his team of highly skilled professionals who are called upon to reflect upon issues pertaining to this film. This gentle incorporation of slightly surrealist elements allows the audience to focus on Zoya’s thoughtfulness. Almost everything points in a hopeful direction that she might possibly do so given all those human creative acts that weave through this cinematic tapestry. The time might unravel in Omni Loop but it does not concern itself with exploring the mysteries of the wider universe as much as it indulges into considering these individual lives around us.
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