Parallel (Short)
“Parallel” has a feature film’s worth of story it tells in 11 minutes. That may make it sound convoluted, but it’s a very clear-eyed story, with emotional journeys experienced that would normally take two hours, but here are followed, easily and un-rushed, in minutes. Writer-director Mikel J. Wisler frames the story as the recollections of an old scientist (Henry, played by Paul Kandarian as an old man, and Juan C. RodrÃguez as a young man), who once broke down a barrier to parallel universes in the time after the Higgs-Boson breakthrough. The most meaningful part to Henry, though, is his meeting Anne (Kate Paulsen), a researcher on the other side he has an immediate connection with. Henry’s telling this story to his daughter, with the moral of the story being to never take anything for granted, and to never become bitter about opportunities lost, because something else will always be around the corner. Though the film is more a personal, intimate story about character interactions, Wisler doesn’t skimp on the sci-fi nature of the film, and visually, there are some very interesting ideas, though we’re not talking about “Gravity” or “2001” here. What I mean in pointing out the visuals is that Wisler fleshes out the film visually to where we are given a full glimpse of the world he has created, which isn’t always easy to do in short films. Ultimately, it’s the emotional side of “Parallel” that resonates the strongest, and it’s quite an experience on not just it’s main character, but the viewer, as well.
Parallel – Teaser from Mikel J. Wisler on Vimeo.
