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Movie Review: “Past God” Is Overly Clichéd

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

James, once an aspiring pastor, turns to a life of drugs and murder after his sister’s suicide.

Perhaps I missed the nuance of this award winning indie film “Past God” but I came away having taken nothing worthwhile from its efforts. Though I commend some of the cinematic effects of this film, like the slick editing, the intriguing shot selections and the eye-catching locations, I find the story itself to be boring, clichéd and inconsequential. This film is indie, alright. Indie like “Requiem for a Dream” was at the turn of the century, a movie that Nick McCallum, the director, writer, and star of “Past God” seems heavily influenced by. And though, I find “Requiem for a Dream” to be a bit overrated, “Past God” often feels like a failed rendition of it, one that adds layers of cliché in religious and romantic tones that provide nothing noteworthy or unique to the viewer.

Furthermore, in the many years since “Requiem for a Dream” was released, the element of shock that it evoked has been obliterated. The more inflammatory scenes in “Past God” are not shocking at all and many of them seem forced. One cannot be unique strictly by being provocative in this era of art. With that said, it seems as if the director disagrees, and intends to imply to the audience; “this is how life really is.” The movie doesn’t help itself with a screenplay structure that feels like something inspired by a college level creative writing course. The flashbacks are intermittent and often confuse the context of the story. Additionally, as indie as this film is in ethos, it contains the same implausible pitfalls of a big budget burnout.

This is made evident in the scene where James, the protagonist, clearly dead to rights and about to be executed, just happens to have a knife in his pocket to slit the throat of his executioner and escape the scene unscathed. The first hour of this movie is very slow. The scenes are consistently mundane and boring. Combine that with a lack of any sort of captivating tone, and “Past God” quickly loses the attention of its audience. By the time the story picks up in pace it is far too late to be salvaged, as there seems to be a limited connection between the characters and those reacting to them. As critical as one can be of “Past God”, the film is not without its moments, particularly towards the end of the movie.

Some of the later scenes with James (Nick McCallum) and Elle (Natalie Avital) evoke the aesthetic that I think the film was going for all along. Unfortunately, the successful illustration of the human condition manifests itself far too little. “Past God” was surely entertaining for some people, as it has the hardware to prove it (Best Feature Film 2013 at SoCal Film Festival). However, for those looking for an authentic and nuanced depiction of the human condition of suffering, they will likely have to keep looking.

Available now on Video On Demand

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