Sometimes everyone has that fleeting thought if they could live forever, it falls in the same of dreams of winning a massive lottery, with luck of falling in love with the one they love, but every time they try it ends in chaos, well the center of the story involving Lifechanger, from writer and director Justin McConnell (Galaxy of Horrors [2017]). It is an exploration of mortality and chasing love past the boundaries of acceptance and understanding; one needs to note that this is not a film about sorcery or vampires, rather concerning a shapeshifter, center itself in body-horror and found distribution from Uncork’d Entertainment.
A shapeshifter uses bodies and lives at increasing rate unsure why it happening to him, and all of it ruining his plans to be with the one he ideally loves. Each time the occurrences happens he must go further to further incredible extremes for his personal survival, sometimes resorting strange assimilations, the story while laying the breadcrumbs from point A-to-B, becomes quickly confusing who is who, however Bill Oberst Jr. (The Chair [2016]) as Drew provides great voiceovers informing of the narrative. The woman he keeps finding himself chatting to in bar is Julia (Lora Buke (For the Sake of Vicious [2020])). How could this be? Well, it’s confusing for audience who truly need to sole attention the actions of the screen (Put down the phone!). As you likely noticed I am not using the name of the lead actor or his character name, that’s because he keeps switching names and identities faster and faster and taken more extreme risks each time. What makes it very interesting as the multiple actors take over the lead, both men and women Steve Kasan, Rachel VanDuzer, and Sam White. If one centers on “Drew” he’s definitely a serial killer but driven to do it out necessity to stay close to his love interest, therefore willing to absorbing the life-force (Yes, just like the movie Lifeforce [1985]) of others to mask his emotional intentions.
McConnell shot an effectively mystery movie that borders itself between sci-fi and horror, and keeps everything simple but stylish, the story is already complex and needs nothing else to confuse the audience. There’re obvious budget constraints, hence special effects are used sparingly, and the music stay hidden-away allowing the cast and visuals center stage, the only true downside of movie is the excessive voiceover, sometimes that form of storytelling works exceptionally well, as in Goodfellas; however, it feels as an afterthought, as if a test viewing proved confusing needed a running commentary.
If you are curious, this shares a bit of plot similarities with both The X-Files episode “Small Potatoes” from season 4, episode 12, that aired on April 20, 1991 and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday [1993], noting the morphing or body-wearing. Some delicate remains, in a beautifully shot film, however, it borders more on sci-fi than horror, though one could stretch that of man posses with a stalking mentality and a sick obsession allowing for an entertaining diversion.
TAGLINES:
- It Becomes You
- It Will Drain The Life Out Of You
http://www.lifechangermovie.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lifechangermovie/
http://www.unstableground.net/lifechanger-movie/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7188978/
IMDb Rating: 5.4/10
Baron’s Rating: 5.5/10