Directed by Maximus Jenkins
Photographed, Edited by Kaleb Manske
Written by & Starring Alex Nimrod
Produced by & Starring Jordan Rice
Introduction:Publicized and promoted as a tormented filmmaker’s life becomes increasingly intertwined with the horrors of his film, this 102-minute rascal is a real doozy. The first 30 minutes are, blah: I know that needs some explaining and I do my best to do that. The next 30 minutes are less blah than the first blah but blah nonetheless: I know that that too needs some explaining and I do my best to do that too.
And the last 42 minutes: Kick Butt – Momma Mia. Hang-on-to the-edge-of-your-seat for the wild ride awaiting you. I don’t want to explain too much because that would lead the way to spoilers. Please Note: ALL ALONE TOGETHER opened on VOD Monday, July 7, from Ethos Releasing.
Those audiences who can hang in there for the last third will be awarded for their endurance – and might not even recall or may even just forgive the insufferable first 60 minutes. Why? Because the kinetically charged visual transmutations and kaleidoscopy taking place on the screen can make audiences feel as if they are transcending the space-time- continuum for a cosmic-like experience.
ALL ALONE TOGETHER is the debut feature film from 4085 Productions, a student-run production company that began during the COVID-19 pandemic when four Los Angeles college students decided to combat their isolation through filmmaking. Their first made waves at Panic Fest, Popcorn Frights and the Chicago Horror Film Festival, with Morbidly Beautiful website raving, “Creative, engrossing, smartly scripted, and masterfully executed on a shoestring budget, ALL ALONE TOGETHER is meta-movie magic at its best.” ALL ALONE TOGETHER,again, opened on VOD Monday, July 7, from Ethos Releasing.
Film Review & Article
Lincoln Arreto (played by Alex Nimrod) is an aspiring filmmaker trying to get comfortable basking in his new found fame even as his line between fiction and reality is collapsing like a Maginot Line. His horror masterpiece claws its way off the screen to invade his waking life. It was born from trauma he personally experienced. Paranoia festers, guilt blooms, the byzantine occurrences inexorably begin to drive him nutso.
Sleep offers no escape as scenes from his film replay and replay in twisted nightmarish shards. Stalked by a gruesome entity that mirrors his darkest memories, he’s forced to confront the percolating abscess beneath his success. The only way out may be through the horror he created.
Subway Ride, Stalked By The Thing
ALL ALONE TOGETHER, spearheaded by a quartet of USC students, was shot for $15,000 with a cast and crew comprised of mostly other USC students and alumni. It opens with the film’s struggling protagonist Lincoln, an unhappy soul making his way through life. At an office job to make bread to cover room and board and the like, Lincoln gets tripped up by a conniving, obnoxious Fiona (played by Lisa Starrett) who goads him into losing his temper – resulting in him being fired.
Back at home where he should expect to find sanctuary and surcease, things worsen as an unholy monster, played gruesomely by Brandon Whipple, stalks him.
A Non-Spoiling Tip off: All ALONE TOGETHER isn’t a horror film about making a horror film, instead, writer Alex Nimrod (remember, he is the main actor) and director Maximus Jenkins hone in on the aftermath of making a film as well as expected the fears and anxiety over its reception, getting it distributed as well as the filmmakers ability to maintain that level of success for their followup project.
What makes ALL ALONE TOGETHER a horror like film on the fringes of the typical horror film seem to be taking a physical form as well. Or is it just the filmmaker’s own self-doubt and self-destructive tendencies spiraling out of control?
And he comes across as his worst enemy, arguing with not just with a supportive Sloane (played by Elizabeth Hadjinian) but also the agent he hires to find the film a distributor and potential distributors as well. Similarly, he turns an interview with a local TV station into a disaster.
At this point, this the WORD reviewer stops here with details and descriptions for audiences because of legit fears of, uh oh, spoiling.
The result is a film that toes the line between being a dark drama and a work of psychological horror. One that keeps the lines blurred as it highlights the parallels between Lincoln and Tyler, even as he denies them.
There are a couple of points where the script’s attempts at keeping the viewer uncertain as to what is and isn’t real goes too far, creating confusion.
Because this is a micro-budget film, audiences expecting special effects will be disappointed with quality in this film though there are a few scattered here and there that are decent.This is a psychological film, more driven by dialogue and performances than effects.
