Apocalypsis
“Apocalypsis” is a strange movie. It’s a fascinating movie. It’s not really, what I would call, a great movie, but it really leaves a strong impression, which is just as meaningful as some form of cinematic greatness. I felt the same way about writer-director Eric Leiser’s first film I watched back in 2007, “imagination,” and I’m curious how I would feel going back to see that and his 2011 film, “Glitch in the Grid,” after seeing “Apocalypsis,” which is the third of the trilogy. What I remember strongest about Leiser’s work in the visual voice he displays, and it feels very much attuned here, as well.
According to IMDb, the film is set in a parallel universe where the Earth is headed into a black hole, although with the exception of visuals that could represent said black hole, there’s not much information that you could use to infer that within the context of the story. What you can infer is that America, as we see it in this film, is primed to explode into chaos, and we follow two people with an Eastern Orthodox Christian background; one, Evelyn (Maria Bruun), who has committed herself to being like Jesus in her pursuit to help people, and another, Michael (Chris O’Leary), who is a radio host and conspiracy theorist who rails about the New World Order. While Michael joins radicals in an effort to liberate the bodies of people from the oppression he sees the government doing, Evelyn wishes to help people spiritually, but she is falling into a rabbit hole of her own as her religious studies lead her to reading the Book of Revelations, and having visions while doing so.
One of the things that I always remembered standing out about “imagination” was not only the use of animation by Leiser to tell his story, but also the supernatural, almost spiritual, nature of the story he was telling. That lingered with me (and I’m kind of surprised, based on re-reading my review of it, that “Glitch in the Grid” didn’t necessarily have the same impact on me), and both of those elements are in “Apocalypsis” in spades. The visions Evelyn has of Revelations are done in the same stop-motion animated style I remembered from “imagination,” and while it can seem kind of amateurish at first, I love the surreal nature of that style being brought into a live-action narrative when you consider the context of how the animation is being used. When coupled with the sound design and music Eric’s brother Jeffrey adds to the scenes, there’s something haunting about the images that make them stand out when we think back on the film.
If there’s something about this film that I’m not a fan of, it’s that I don’t believe Leiser has a strong focus on what he’s trying to convey from a narrative standpoint. That was kind of true with “imagination,” as well, although I’m very curious to rewatch all three of his films, knowing they are intended as part of a trilogy, so I can find the connective tissue among them. I’m curious what age has done with “imagination,” how I almost blotted out “Glitch in the Grid,” and what place “Apocalypsis” takes in comparison. I’m fascinated by the use of supernatural and the spiritual that stuck out in the first and third films of the trio, and, honestly, I want to experience this animation Leiser uses again, and see how I feel about these films on a second pass at them. “Apocalypsis” has very good ideas in it, and a compelling vision that brings it to life, but it doesn’t quite bring them together in a cohesive whole. I’m very interested in what Eric Leiser has in mind for his next project, though, because he has an interesting voice, as a filmmaker.
