Ingress

Writer and Director: Rachel Noll James

We may come to rue the day we ever thought up parallel universes if Ingress is the kind of film we get from such scientific hypotheses. Long, slow and sloppy, Rachel Noll James’s time-travelling romance is more lo-fi than sci-fi.

From childhood, Riley has been shifting universes. Initially, the changes in each new world are small, like the colour of her front door, but one afternoon, coming home from school, she discovers that the parents she said goodbye to that morning are dead, have been dead for some years. She must now live her life as an orphan taking over the family winery in a pretty Washington State town.

The film starts in this universe with Riley grieving over the recent death of her husband Toby. She yearns to return to the world in which he still lives, and experiences glimpses into a life where they are still together. Her therapist tells her to count to ten when these episodes occur in an attempt to keep her rooted to this plane.

But when writer and medium Daniel comes to town seeking to help those who recognise that life should be understood as a dance under strobe lights rather than an A to B chronology Riley seeks his help. Daniel is annoyingly virtuous; he eats salad and does yoga before bedtime. However, he is also in touch with a spirit called Lucas whom he channels at book-readings. Naturally, Lucas has a message for Riley.

Surprisingly, we soon realise that we are to swallow this silly confection, and even more surprisingly see Daniel as a hero. But Christopher Clark comes across as too smarmy and creepy; his character’s earnestness surely conceals some quackery, but Rachel Noll James’s Riley – wide-eyed resolve and fragility on repeat – is drawn to his unctuous teachings.

Daniel, too, begins to see fragments of another life he could be living. His mother, quite sensibly, suggests that he go back on his antipsychotic medication, a request that he rejects, asserting that the pills prevent him from accessing a multiverse that only some are fortunate to enter. If only Lucas didn’t sound as ominous as an angry AI tool.

Just once is Daniel’s hokum challenged and this comes from a man – as redneck as you can find in such a chocolate-box town – who used to bully Daniel at school. Does this mean any disbelieving viewer is aligned with this bully who punches Daniel in the face as he walks down Main Street one evening?

Seemingly taking inspiration from other multiverse romances such as The Time Traveler’s Wife, the pretentiously titled Ingress is never as sexy or violent as Outlander. Indeed, James’s film is decidedly chaste where everyone goes to bed fully clothed. And without the occasional swearing, Ingress would be right at home on daytime TV where it’s sure to have some fans.

Ingress will be released on 13 August 2024 on Cable and All TVOD.