Simulation theory has been around for quite some time but has gained popularity over the last few years, thanks to high profile musings by Elon Musk. The Mandela Effect attempts to broach the subject through one man’s story of grief but bites off a more than it can chew.
In the wake of their daughter’s accidental death, Brendan (Charlie Hofmeier) and Claire (Aleksa Palladino) struggle to move forward as Brendan’s grief carries him down a rabbit hole of internet conspiracies.
This is certainly an interesting idea as an allegory for how we deal with grief, but it needed a lot more room to breathe. Director David Guy Levy co-wrote the screenplay with Steffen Schlachtenhaufen but at just an hour and 20 minutes, there’s just not enough depth to go around. The parents in mourning are quickly replaced by Brendan spiraling, so there’s never enough of a relationship established between them for the audience to get invested. You naturally feel for them because of their loss and the performances are certainly good enough, but the script moves onto the heavy lifting of attempting to explain simulation theory. The filmmakers almost drown you in the basics of the theory but didn’t effectively get at the meat of the philosophy behind it. There’s so much to cover, it makes sense to get right to it but the explanation we get is still pretty flimsy heading into the third act.
The story gives up on any ambiguity about the sim hypothesis pretty early so it becomes all about the machinery of pulling back the curtain. The problem is the catalyst for the plot is a heavy, emotional event but borrows heavily from The Matrix and as it pivots to a rather dry and technical finish. Considering everything that’s revealed throughout the movie, the ending sort of undermines the whole thing.
The film succeeds in soliciting an emotional response but could have benefitted greatly from an extra 15 minutes in each act.
Recommendation: As much as I love low-budget Sci-Fi, and appreciate some of the elements put forward in this movie, save yourself the 80-minutes…unless you are really into Simulation Theory.