Parallel is a 2016 thriller /mystery movie directed by Ieva Makselyte and starring Daniel Westwood,
Faye Sewell, Melissa Veszi, David Magowan and Brian Carter.
A woman called Heather(Sewell) is at a party given by her boss Anna(Veszi). She is hoping to meet a nice man. She is approached by Neil(Magowan) and they get on really well together. They become a couple. One day, they are walking in the park when they meet a man called John Machlis(Carter).
He tells Heather that he is a medium, but not a normal one. He tells her that he is not a phony. Heather is interested in using his skills. Neil is very skeptical of him and dismisses him. Heather takes his card and they go and see him. Heather buys into it,but Neil doesn't. He tells them that he can see people's Alternate versions of themselves and that he can let them see what their alternate lives are like. He says that it can be a bad version of themselves sometimes.
Heather wants to see what her alternate life is like. It cuts to Heather at the same party but this time. she approaches a man called Roy(Westwood). They chat and she realises that he works in her office too.He gives her the keys to his place and assumes that she will meet him there. John brings her back from her alternate life and she tells Neil about it. Neil is worried as she is upset. He asks her what she saw and when she tells him about Roy, he isn't happy. Cut to another session and Heather is back at Roy's place. He tells her that he took someone else's keys and that the apartment isn't his. They have to run when the owners come back. She wakes up. She hasn't told Neil about her visits and he isn't happy when he finds out that she is lying. He decides to have a word with John which he does. John invites him in and tells him that he can experience what Heather did.
Neil sees himself at the party and he meets Rhianna and she is a very tough woman. She humiliates him and when he is in the bathroom she comes in and hits him. He is upset by it. We cut to Heather and Roy having sex. Heather feel guilty when she wakes up. She and John talk and he tells her that his mother had the gift too. He tells her that he crossed over to the other side. Neil goes back to John and he goes back into his alternate life again. This time he gets attacked by two men. It is a set up by Rihanna and then they have sex. In Heather's alternative life, she and Roy are getting it on when two people come to the apartment. They think that Roy is a real estate agent and he is selling their place for them. He tells the the truth and kills the guy Peter(Alexander Cooper) and he asks Heather to kill the woman. Heather hits the woman and kills her. Heather wakes up from her trance and she vomits.
SPOILERS AHEAD.Neil finds out what she has been doing and they an argument at work when the real Roy is there. He doesn't know what is going on. Heather moves out of their place. Neil tells her about his experience. He was going to propose to her and he hands her the ring. Anna calls Neil and Heather in for a meeting with a psychologist. He tells them that John duped them into believing that it was all real. He is just a charlatan. He tells them that Machlin chose them and watched them to find out things about them and then used it to reel them in. Neil goes back to John for a final look at his alternate life. He meets Rihanna and things get out of hand. He gets confused and murders Machlin.
He calls Heather and asks her to meet him. He seems to have crossed over to his alternate life when he killed Machlin. Heather meets him but she is not the real Heather and she has Roy with her. They kill Neil and throw his body in the river. The movie ends with the real Heather throwing the engagement ring into the river.
This was an interesting idea for a film. The two leads were good in their roles and I liked the idea of seeing into an alternative world where you are a different person. The actors are decent and even though this is a low budget affair, it is worth a look if you enjoy indie movies. There are some good scenes in this as everything spirals out of control. Give it a chance as it is pretty entertaining and I think that it is good to support indie movies. If you are interested in watching this, then you can watch it here. There is also a Facebook page here for more information. If you can, have a look at Parallel!
