Shadows of The Twilight Zone and Another Earth hang over this impressively stripped-down, experimental sci-fi about a dinner party that fractures into alternative realities thanks to a mysterious comet. As talk turns from gossipy rivalries to Schrödinger’s cat, director/co-writer James Ward Byrkit introduces doppelgangers and double-takes, nodding toward Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House as the guests spiral inexorably in upon themselves. Considering how much of the film consists of a single group of people becoming increasingly unhinged in a suburban living room, it’s impressive how effectively Byrkit manages to suggest multiple realities and ominous other worlds. Improvised dialogue adds to the sense of spontaneity, grounding the increasingly outlandish escapades in believably down-to-earth interaction.
