Rami Malek DJ Qualls Kate Lyn Sheil Sukha Belle Potter
Writer/director Sarah Adina Smith’s surreal
production could only succeed with the force of Rami Malek’s portrayals of odd
characters (e.g., Mr. Robot) who can mysteriously transform himself into
different personas ranging from everyman to psychotic man. Here, he is at least two
characters—one, a restless night clerk at a hotel who is frustrated with a job
beneath his intellect; and the other, a deranged “mountain man”, fleeing from
the law after a traumatic event.
There is a lot to fill in between these two appearances, and it’s not
always clear exactly what is transpiring.
Smith jumps back and forth in time (which I
nearly always hate, but her aim here might be to keep the viewer guessing and
slightly disoriented to identify with the star’s predicaments), so that we see
Jonah happily married to Marty (Sheil) and reveling in his precocious daughter
Roxy (Potter), but he’s feeling stifled and bone-weary from his job. His social/political views help fuel
his anger. The family has moved in
with Marty’s parents to save money for a plot of land in the country, and this
is clearly stressful for all, and what brings Buster to the brink is the
dawning realization that they may never fulfill their dream.
One night at the hotel, a mysterious man (DJ
Qualls) asks for a room, but refuses to give any ID or even a name. He easily engages Jonah into
conversations about a coming apocalypse called an “inversion”, heightening his
anxiety and further prompting Jonah’s existential/political questions. Eventually, Jonah tries to get rid of
the man, and thinks he has, but…
Other times, we see Malek as longhaired bearded
“Buster” roaming around in the mountains, breaking into vacation homes, and
running from the sheriff and his deputies. Smith leaves us guessing here, as well as at other times, as
to which scenes are hallucinations and which are real. At times, I even wondered whether the
Qualls character might be another of Jonah’s personalities.
Buster’s
Mal Heart is intriguing, fortified by Rami Malek’s performance in
television’s “Mr. Robot.”
Similarities between Jonah (“Buster”) and Mr. Robot are enough to
enhance this production’s already fascinating value. DJ Qualls gives the right amount of creepiness as the
mysterious hotel guest to rev up the mystery.
Drama with tinges of humor morphs into
a mystery/thriller.
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