Circulation (2008)
Review by the Fiend of Grue
Some believe that when you die, you come back to life in another human form or an animal/insect. If it is true, how exactly does the process take place. Are we just dead one minute and alive as something else the next? Or is there a learning process in the transition from human to say, a spider? It’s these very questions that Circulation dares to try and answer.
Ana is a beautiful young woman living in a small Mexican town. One day she decides to take a drive to visit her boyfriend but on the way there her car overheats on a lonely, desert highway. As she gets out of the car, an old beat up truck pulls up next to her with three men inside offering her a ride. Through a series of flashbacks we see that one of the men is her physically abusive ex husband. Becoming very nervous with him being there, she declines their offer but very quickly the men overcome her and kidnap her. While still struggling with her captors, the truck they are in wrecks off the side of the road. A little banged up but still alive, Ana survives the crash and before any of the others have a chance to wake up, she takes off and is soon picked up by a guy in another truck named Gene whom we see at the very beginning of the movie explaining how he has been dead since 1989 and has been roaming this lonely highway ever since. He talks of having dreams of being a poisonous spider and is apparently living in some strange alternate reality where human souls transition into a reincarnated animals or insects.
Gene agrees to take Ana home, but as they journey on through the desert, Ana starts to quickly become aware that something is not quite right. Through multiple revelations, Ana realizes that everything she once knew is somehow different after the wreck and not only that, but her ex husband survived the wreck too and is hot on her heels. She then begins to have terrifying dreams of being a caterpillar and the taste of fresh leaves becomes enticing to her. As her and Gene drive on, Ana must learn a new way of being in this bizarre tale of reincarnation.
Circulation was directed by Ryan Harper and is a very bizarre, yet extremely original movie that is more of an experience to behold than anything. The movie is very quiet for the most part as you take in the gorgeous Mexican landscape of mountainous terrain and a pristine coastline that Mr. Harper wonderfully puts on display. For a noticeably small budget, this film has a far better look to it that most at this level do but the Mexican scenery isn’t only part of the visual charm of this film because the trippy dream sequences of Gene and Ana are just as breathtaking. Ana’s dreams are filled with hallucinogenic shots of caterpillars and butterflies while Gene’s dreams show different types of spiders walking around, spinning webs and placing their prey in cocoons. It kind of sounds like I’m describing a nature show, but when these sequences happen, they are eye candy indeed.
Yvonne DeLaRosa was really good in her role of Ana. As a woman not knowing what has become of herself and trying to make sense of the crazy things she is going through, Yvonne was very believable in her portrayal that she put on the screen. Sherman Koltz, as the easily agitated Gene, was equally if not more so impressive. The scenes with Ana and Gene work extremely well, Ana doesn’t speak English and Gene doesn’t speak Spanish so the two of them have to find compromises in their communication. Ana is a distraught woman full of apprehension and tears, while Gene doesn’t seem to really care and gets angry with her a lot, but still keeps her by his side for whatever reason. The interactions between these two characters works well and brings life to the story.
Through a mostly calm and subdued plot, the story unravels as Ana becomes aware of her new surroundings. The movie never even really alludes to her being dead, but you know that she is once she gets in the truck with Gene who we already know is dead himself. The two of them soon find themselves at the home of Ana’s dead brother Miguel. To tell you of this movies bizarre nature, in this scene Ana and Gene arrive at Miguel’s house and there is a dead guy on the floor with two bite marks on his neck. Miguel doesn’t seem to mind the dead guy being there when all the sudden another man comes into the picture and begins vomiting on the dead guy over and over, much like a fly would do when preparing it’s meal. Gene shoots the guy and then wraps him head to toe in a rope, much like a spider would wrap it’s prey into a cocoon of webbing, and takes him out to the truck. We learn that the bite marks came from Miguel who is himself in the process of reincarnating. This scene is appealing in it’s suddenness and distinctiveness which serves to set this film apart. It’s not easy to see where the scene is going at first and then it hits you quickly, leaving you to ask yourself what exactly you just saw
The downside to the film is the slow rate at which things unfold, sometimes moving along at a snail’s pace. There isn’t a lot going on in this movie most of the time and there’s just an overall feeling of something missing. Although the scenes are beautiful, the acting is above average and the direction is sufficient, there’s still something amiss with the script that I couldn’t quite put my finger on with only one viewing. While watching it, I couldn’t help but think if it only had that extra “oomph” to the story it would have been great instead of only good. Even still, Circulation is the type of film that will have its audience once word of mouth spreads and it becomes more available.
I don’t know of a movie that has a plot like this and kudos to Mr. Harper for bringing us something completely new to chew on, this was a welcome relief from all of the garbage that passes as “cinema” these days, despite it‘s flaws. If your into seeing something completely different compared to what’s out there and like your films a little on the strange side, then this is for you. Check it out!
Available on Amazon
Visit Circulation’s Official Site
Watch the Circulation Trailer:
Popularity: 3% [?]
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