Parallel Minds (2020) Film Review

Directed: Benjamin Ross Hayden

Screenplay: Benjamin Ross Hayden

Starring: Greg Bryk, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Chelsea Anne Green

Parallel Minds (2020)

By Isa Daniels

Parallel Minds opens with something never before seen in sci-fi history, real Native people. Hell there’s even a Cree word or two in there! Hollywood should take note, there’s a whole untapped market here, and what better way to represent us than carefully considering our Elders, history, and people and placing it on the silver screen. I’m sure they have the best intentions.

While operating on possibly the tenth of the budget, our film manages to have a better SFX budget than Disney (I heard they have yet to replace their green drapes for set building). Our film tells a tale not unlike a Black Mirror episode (except across the pond, in the Colonies) about a new device called Red Eye, a small non-permanent lens that can tap into our innermost experiences with shocking accuracy and detail.

Our definitely-not-Apple CEO, Conrad Stallman, is absolutely ecstatic to reveal to the world the new and exciting and absolutely affordable device; much to the dismay of our protagonists, Margo and Elise, who are the real work behind Red Eye’s functionality. Like any good movie about technology, its not ready yet and they just keep pushing up the release schedule! Darnit, Conrad, don’t you know this kind of tech needs rigorous and careful testing? Things are bound to go wrong without ironing out the bugs!

Of course something goes wrong.

Turns out Red Eye really is an Apple device, with a mind of its own and a deep desire to extract information from our bodies, in this case, our pain, for a goal unbeknownst to our protagonists.

Margo is joined by a disgraced detective, Thomas Elliot, leading an investigation for a tragic and mysterious death caused by our definitely-not-evil memory MacGuffin. 

And this is only 15 minutes in!

The film spends a good deal of time making you feel alone with our characters; no one exists or matters in this world, there is only Red Eye and both our protagonists have troubled pasts with old memories literally coming back to haunt them. While the narrative is hard to follow at points, I really wanted to see where it all goes. The whole weird techno-punk dystopia is very cool, even if a little unpolished, much like that one infamous cyber-punk game.

I don’t want to spoil how it all ends, or what our dream team has to endure to stop Tower (the company behind Red Eye). Let's just say every detective always ends up shooting someone they probably shouldn’t have shot.

I only wish Jade and her little companion got more screentime.

Also what was Alexa’s deal anyways?