DOUBLE EXPOSURE
Filmmaker Howard Goldberg brings DWF NY 2024 audiences a tale of emotional torture. When Peter’s (Alexander Calvert) ex-girlfriend Sara (Caylee Cowan) shows up in his life unexpectedly, the past and present mysteriously collide. The struggling artist grapples with guilt over what happened to his first love. Opening with a Sondheim quote was undeniably clever, but this puzzle is missing at least half its pieces.
I’m not sure where to begin with DOUBLE EXPOSURE. The opening scene had such potential, but the film quickly goes off the rails into a nonsensical oblivion of unresolved trauma and supernatural bafflement.
Caylee Cowan is… not great. She doesn’t respond to her castmates. She recites words. It’s naive to the point of mugging. Simon Kim delivers an over-the-top cliche of toxic masculinity. I’m blaming Goldberg here for the entirely gross and offensive dialogue. The rest of the cast is fantastic. Alexander Calvert and Kahyun Kim hold it together. Unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle with an incredibly confusing screenplay.
The story is all over the place. It genuinely felt like there was no script supervisor on set. I could not keep overlapping timelines straight at all. The Wizard of Oz-esque finale is just as messy. DOUBLE EXPOSURE cannot decide what kind of film it wants to be.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE
North American Premiere
USA, 2024, 93 min.
FRI DEC 6 @ 8PM
WRITER/DIR: Howard Goldberg
PRODS: Julia Verdin, Howard Goldberg
CAST: Alexander Calvert, Caylee Cowan, Kahyun Kim
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