31 Days of Horror: Coherence

Horror isn’t just a genre; it’s an amalgamation of pop culture, cozy traditions, and things that go bump in the night. This year, we're taking our 31 Days of Horror across the entire cultural spectrum. We’ll be taking a look at movies that scare us, games that kept us paranoid, scary books we cozy up with under blankets, music that sets that spooky tone and seasonal food we’re craving–or strange food you’d have to tie us up and force feed us. Whether you’re looking for something truly terrifying or a cozy autumn haunt, come back every day this month for a new bite-sized review or spooky adjacent list.

 We live in a world where the whole universes converging and smashing together are old hat and an expected plotline in even the most pedestrian of movies. But Coherence, a small budget film that takes place in one location, was doing it way back in 2013 and doing it well.

Coherence centers on a dinner party amongst close friends during a comet passing. What starts off as some some odd occurrences from cellphones cracking and not working to unexpected past lovers creating tension, quickly turns stranger and stranger. Stories of past celestial bodies having disturbed towns they passed by lay the foundation for some quick if not heavy handed foreshadowing.

The film quickly turns into a tension filled, paranoia laced sci-fi film as the lights go down and more talk of comets lead them down the road, literally and figuratively, to the meat of the film. Multiple realities, with multiple versions of the characters, time schisms, and more are converging during this comet’s passing. 

Every aspect of the film feels way more honed than its tiny budget suggests. The writing is honestly incredible, truly feeling authentic with each character wonderfully defined archetypes being portrayed by some great actors. While everyone is great, and I mean great, Emily Baldoni shines as the film's focal point and Nicholas Brendon as a pseudo version of himself (uncomfortably so) stands out. 

There are some intriguing editing choices at the beginning of the film that really set the film's tone. At the beginning it feels disjointed, as it jumps from conversation to conversation through momentary blank spaces. It later becomes clear that these jumps mirror the feeling of confusing and sudden shifts in character.

The film builds on its paranoid toxicity so well and believably, covering every base with a heaping dose of skepticism and sci-fi chicanery that will give you massive bouts of anxiety and genuine fear for these unfortunate universe clashed victims.

Coherence benefits from multiple viewings and thankfully its quality rises above its low budget, making each viewing an incredible experience to dig into.

Go watch Coherence and lament that all those superheroes can handle multiple universes as well and coherent as this film. Oh, coherent...coherence.... man they really were setting themselves up for failure if this film didn't end up making sense huh? Trust me though, it does and it's awesome.