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Karmalink Review: Fresh, Beautiful Sci-Fi Blends Time Travel & Spiritualism
Karmalink combines spiritualism and technology with a grim kid's adventure film with a fine-tuned production value. Writer-director Jake Wachtel (The Foreigner) — who co-wrote the script with Christopher Larsen — has made a great-looking movie with a distinct genre-bending narrative. Though the dialogue routinely comes up short in big moments when the film attempts to get too heady, the story is bold enough to keep one invested. The performances are all very likable and every line is delivered with earnestness. For a film set in the near future, both the style and execution are seamless and complement the sets perfectly.
In a futuristic Cambodia, augmented nanotech offers limitless possibilities to those who can afford it. In soon-to-be gentrified Phnom Penh, long-time residents of the capital city are fighting to keep their homes. Among the resident's youth are two unlikely new friends, Leng Heng (Leng Heng Prak) and Srey Leak (Srey Leak Chhith). Leng Heng has dreams of a different life and knows nanotech can get him closer to unlocking the mysteries of a lost treasure. Srey Leak is down on her luck and is eager to fine-tune the machinery needed to pair with his information. The creator of the tech, Dr. Vattanak Sovann (Sahajak Boonthanakit) aims to push the limits of what it means to connect with your past. When Leng Heng and Srey Leak encounter his disciple, the rules of reality and time begin to bend uncontrollably.
The visual effects in Karmalink are superb. The displays that pop up when people use nanotech and the visuals on the iPads that track brain function while people are using them are nothing to write home about. But the overall integration of CGI blends together with the backgrounds and lighting to make the whole experience feel real. Time shifts show arial bombings that are as visceral as they are well executed. The planes in the past feel imminent as they descend and the futuristic planes in the present timeline match the rest of the set design as well as elevate it.
Cinematographer Robert Leitzell (Blackbear) gives every practical shot exactly the right amount of realism a sci-fi film needs to be grounded. The film opens with a long scene shot on film and boasts glorious visuals, like a Buddhist temple spinning with rainbows and wide reflections. These are all done practically. The camera slowly tracks in on an image of two people meditating while deities shadow them. The rainbows are so high off the ground that the resulting shadow literally takes the shot to new heights. These small flourishes, alongside the rest of the production design, make every minute of Karmalink feel like a different universe. However, the film is far from perfect.
Karmalink’s main issue is getting its point across. While the movie avoids the well-trodden territory of preaching technology is consuming us, it does not seem to have an opinion on the matter at all. The movie's more profound themes are clumsily executed in monologues delivered by Boonthanakit (Only God Forgives). These moments would be even more confusing if not for the actor's charisma. The dialogue implies a great sense of self-realization on the character's part, but is never articulated with ease. When Boonthanakit and Leng Heng meet at the film's climax, all the goodwill of a kid's adventure story flies out the window. All the quasi-mystery of the technology is poorly explained. And perhaps most unforgivable, the script circles the wagons over again trying to be profound. Ostensibly, the thesis of the film ends up resembling a bad action movie instead of a high-caliber sci-fi picture. For a movie with time travel and past lives, Karmalink is most confusing in an office talking directly to the viewer.
That said, viewers likely haven’t seen a movie quite like Karmalink. Kids go on a trans-dimensional treasure hunt only to meet the living manifestation of the world's most advanced technology. It's been done before, but not in this world and not with a genuine search of spiritualism guiding every character's decisions. Cambodia as a backdrop also gives the film a fresh sense that should remind all filmmakers there are other cities besides Los Angeles and New York City. But by the film's end, one is left with more questions than answers, and not necessarily in a good way. Though the performances are all very enjoyable, the dialogue pulls down the script. Despite this, however, Karmalink is unique, introspective, and beautifully imperfect.
Karmalink is in theaters and on demand on July 15th. The film is not rated.
