‘Synchronic’ is an interesting trip

Posted on April 23, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

Last fall, a little sci-fi thriller called “Synchronic” showed up on the list of video-on-demand releases I use to write my preview columns. Unfortunately, the film didn’t actually hit VOD for some reason, and I eventually forgot about it. Then, last weekend, it showed up on Netflix. If you don’t have Netflix, you can also rent the movie or purchase it on physical media.

This is slow-moving, dark thriller about two New Orleans paramedics (Anthony Mackie, “Falcon and Winter Soldier,” and Jamie Dorman, “Fifty Shades of Grey”), who begin encountering the victims of a new designer drug, which unbeknownst of them, can sometimes unanchor people from the flow of time, often with disastrous results.

The movie really takes its time setting up its characters and their lives, and the real plot doesn’t kick in until we’re past the 30-minute mark. Don’t go into this expecting much, if any, action. This is as much a character study of how the everyday horrors these two paramedics experience shape their views on life as much as it is about the sci-fi elements.

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