I'll i have to say is to pay attention when Em calculates the probability...the calculator said 5.000.000+, when she saw those digits she understood everyone around her except the ones that gave the exact same the dice said, were from other houses... probably from a billion others and somehow connected the group of 8. that's why she left, cause she understood also that every house represented a different reality, that's why she skipped some of them and stopped at the one that with the group socializing and not being aware of the reality split, replacing herself.
Lets say there's 3 of you... One that is gentle, one that is smart, one that is a bad person, Each one in a different house not being aware that is all of them 3 go outside they will see themselves and probably freak out, you have timer (The comet) that lets the original you stay where you are or go to other house and replace yourself. Em "The protagonist" understood while she skipped houses seeing herself in them, but she understood that is impossible for her to go back to her original house since she left the house she was originally in because there were 5.B+ the same and she had to quickly look for another reality for her to be into, she went after a reality where the 8 of them were happy.
So, the reality thing got fucked when hugh and amir went out... it was impossible for the original themselves to go back. There is a scene were a hugh and amir go back with a red glowstick and a blue one and hugh starts fighting because mike hooked up with hes wife, but that mike was from another house (Apparently from another reality were he never did such thing).
When i say original i refer to the ones at the first scenes, but there is no such things as originals... they are themselves but in different type of ways (Personality,llifestyle,etc...)
Sorry for grammar. My main language is Spanish.
Few movies manage to be intimate and personal, while also otherworldly and bizarre. Your exposure to this group of friends is brief, but you learn quite a lot about them-- Not only their backstories and relationships, but (and especially) their ways of thinking and acting. In writing, you are often told to do more with less. "Never use a long word when a short one will do", the modern reach of the minimalist philosophy, cut anything unnecessary. In film that is so often not the case, but Coherence attempts it, by filming the entire movie in the director's home, by making each character familiar enough to need little introduction (How many of us know somebody with Beth's west-coast neo-mysticism? With Mike's good intentions, but shaky judgement?), by introducing subplots we're all so familiar with that the sparse minutes devoted to them can give us great complexity. The film's plot isn't innately comprehensible, and it seems at times to break its own rules, but it doesn't hurt this film. The improvised dialogue is intensely believable, and in all but the moment's-notice camera shots, the traces of the movie's non-existent budget are invisible to you and I. And perhaps the budget of the film is possible because of that essential minimalism, that "less is more" that film has rarely been able to embrace without losing its accessibility.
A group of friends that I'd never be friends with get together for a dinner party on a night when a comet passes close to the Earth's atmosphere. Alternate realities and Reality show-style bickering ensue.
I seem to be watching movies lately that contain characters that I dislike. It could be that I am getting old and grumpy and am having a hard time liking anybody or it could be that I'm sick of the overly character-driven story trend that now permeates TV and Movies. This story is about a comet that causes parallel realities. There are multiple versions of the same people coexisting within a confined area. The mystery is trying to figure out who is real and who has been duplicated by the comet. That's the story. Unfortunately, too much time is spent on the personal lives, the soap operas of the characters' screwed up personal lives. I wanted more about the science of what was happening not who slept with or cheated on who. I get that without characterization there's nothing to care about, but "Coherence" almost goes too far...almost.
Thankfully, the comet story line is grounded by "Em" (played by Emily Baldoni). She's the only character who keeps her head about her. In other words, she's the one character that keeps us focused on what the movie is about, which is the comet. I liked the ending and was intrigued by how Em evolves over the course of the story.
"Coherence" is not a Horror movie. It is gore free. It also uses something close to a shaky-cam technique, even though it's largely set-bound and occurs in one room. It doesn't look like much, but the story is a twisty good time.
Coherence is perhaps one of the most original and captivating science-fiction films of recent times. With a huge simplicity but a very engaging atmosphere, can completely absorb the viewer into it.
The film is set during one night, when a group of friends gets together for dinner. That same night, a comet will pass very close to Earth. Since one purpose of the dinner would also be attending this event, some theories about strange and inexplicable events about comets come to the table during dinner. What is certain is that while they are just quietly enjoy a nice night, strange things start happening, causing panic and paranoia in all the elements present in the house.
With a very low budget and filmed in documentary style, Coherence has a concept that will confuse our mind completely, as you were one of the characters of the story. You begin to question why all events and that is what makes it so good. The interest that can have on the viewer is huge and you can not take off your eyes from the screen. We try to put all the pieces of the puzzle, such as the characters, these pieces will make you go round and round in the search of an answer.
The dialogue is very dynamic and interesting, and the performances of the actors are very natural which makes it even more credible, even with such a strange story.
Coherence is a film that will confuse your mind and make you feel like you are in the place of one of those characters. The end is perfect for this story and the best of all is the mysterious feeling that continues in the air even after the credits begin to roll.
Trying so hard to accept this absolutely impossibly shitty science... comets cracking phones... right... and causing a breakdown of reality for just one night even though comets are in the sky for weeks or even months...and they don't just break up and disappear. There are usually remains than can still be tracked. Shoemaker–Levy 9 broke apart and was tracked for two years before it impacted with Jupiter. This comet broke apart and vanished in 30 seconds? It looked like a sparkler with pieces just zipping away. WTF? And why just at night? Why didn't it affect reality during the day? Why was it house specific? It seems like everything on the same side of the planet facing the comet would be affected together. I realize that the answer to these questions is "low budget", but the story could have at least attempted to explain it while they were all throwing around stupid conversation at the dinner table.
Having a jump cut every 60s seconds doesn't help. And who puts a jump cut in the middle of a scene? Just so we don't have to watch someone walk from the doorway to the other side of the kitchen island? Really? Just change camera angles, don't insert a fraction of a second of black and advance the time 5 seconds... so dumb.
The first 45 minutes is almost unwatchable with crappy perspectives, choppy scenes, unnecessary jump cuts, horrendous dialogue, stupid characters, and tedium abound. None of the characters are all the likeable so putting with the rest of the crap is really hard. There needs to be one thing to get through the setup; likeable characters, great dialogue, interesting plot, pretty visuals, something! Unfortunately this movie has nothing to keep the viewer watch for the first half. After that, the story finally gets going, but the characters are still unlikable and continue to make horrible decisions in general. Let's drink and fight with each other instead of trying to figure what is going on. That seems like a good idea...
That being said, there are some smart things they decide to do. I especially love the box idea as a verification method. That is pretty brilliant, actually. Though how is it that everyone came up with the exact same solution? Some would in florence others purely on timing of implementing it and discovery by others. But everyone doing the same thing? Unlikely. The single house, multiple realities was a fun twist on a premise, but hardly original or mindblowing. The story of the wife killing her husband yet having her husband alive was nice foreshadowing in several ways. The change up of who was an original member of the party and who wasn't added some interesting story twists. The fact that Em finally realized that no matter how long you search you aren't likely to find your starting point is good, especially since she doesn't know what her house's box is since they hadn't made it yet when she left. I hate shows that indicate you can find your way back to your own reality out of infinitely many, or even just an incredibly large number. Though I have to wonder about the ones that stole back their box. How do they know it was their box and how did they manage to make the same random jump to that reality? That part might be worth a rewatch to see if it was explained or if it was an oversight.
Review by LainfanBlockedParentSpoilers2014-10-30T22:10:08Z
With all the great reviews I suspected a hidden jewel, and it kinda was. However it annoyed me a lot.
Especially the dialog was extremely hectic and kind of retarded in the first 30 minutes. It got a bit better after that, but never really good. The actions and decisions were of people that just did not think, something that doesn't fit in a movie with a smart setting like multiverses. imho it only fits with comedy and some exceptions here and there, but that's just me.
One of the flaws that showed itself a couple of times was the time flow. Time is not really consequent throughout the whole movie. In 1 scene someone drinks up a bottle of wine within a minute, and on a few occasions people were gone for a longer period of time (10-20min) while in the house itself no more than 5 minutes were passed at best. This could be explained by the major plot twist in the end, but it would be nice if there were made 1 or 2 remarks about it if that was the case.
The movie is also not giving the viewer time to make their own construction of the situation but making a few emotional scenes right after an info-dump and repeating this process.
And when the characters finally start to understand how complex the situation could be, they decide to pop open the alcohol and get wasted.... seriously?
It brings the movie to a dramatic impasse that is completely unnecessarily and just slows down the mystery.
Luckily the movie manages to get some points in after that. More focusing on story development, having some very interesting plot twists and using the mystery to its benefit in stead of for the drama.
Those last 15 minutes are a good home run, and the movie sets up a completely other pace and setting. Suddenly moving from a group of people with no clue what's going on, to one main character with an objective.
Maybe they should've done this from the beginning to make it more interesting. The girl (Emily?) who took on this role was from the beginning one of the few actors I did not have many complains about, and was doing a good job.
Usually I am a big fan of the 'quantum multiverse' theory worked into a movie, and the concept in this one is very nicely done. But even though they tried (and to be fair the creators have a good grasp on the subject) it kinda failed with the overly dramatic setting and insulting the viewer by letting characters make dumb decisions.
Since it is a low budget movie, I decided not to be too harsh on the rating itself (it really is a movie that can match itself with the high budget ones) and I definitely would upvote for a remake with some better scriptwriting for dialog and some actions. Because I think that this flick could be even better.