On Monday night, I had the pleasure of heading down to the Varsity Theatre to see the World Premiere of Carl Bessai’s new film, Repeaters. Going in, the only thing I knew about the movie was that it was, not dissimilar to Groundhog Day before it, about people who repeat the same day over and over and over.
Only, other than this fact, the movie resembled Groundhog Day, um, not even remotely. The three repeaters – Sonia, Weeks, and Kyle (played flawlessly by Amanda Crew, Richard de Klerk, and Dustin Milligan – below)
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are rehab residents in Mission, BC who are enjoying a one-day pass out into the real world. By enjoying, I really mean, suffering through…as Kyle tries to reconnect with his sister, as Sonia tries to gather the courage to speak to her dying father, as Weeks tries to reconnect with his imprisoned father. Step nine, it seems. Amends.
None of these re-connections go smoothly. It doesn’t seem like a day any of them would like to repeat, and yet, Kyle wakes up to the same Wednesday every single morning.
The thriller moves from a day of trying to make amends to a day that revolves around an interesting moral question…What would you do with a day that would be erased from existence?? If you knew you’d repeat the day anyway, would you break the law, would you do something you’ve always wanted to do, or would you live it just like any other day? When you realize that your slate gets wiped clean every single day…just how far are you willing to push the bounds of responsibility?
Interesting, that. These three are forced to face this question, and forced to decide if amends is something they still want. Or need. Combined with an epic soundtrack and edgy camera work, this movie works as the indie thriller it’s meant to be, as we watch Weeks days spiral into a scary and dangerous place. Each day, each action, each thing these three decide to do or don’t do has an effect on the next Wednesday morning.
This movie was certainly NOT what I was expecting…I mean, there was no Bill Murray or Sonny and Cher music anywhere…but I am glad. Because it was great.
