‘Minor Premise’ Review: Dir. Eric Schultz [Fantasia 2020]

Minor Premise is the latest in the line of science-fiction films intent on frazzling your brain. It taps into that same cerebral bewilderment that Primer induced and makes for a challenging watch. Neuroscientist Ethan (Sathya Sridharan) is at the top of his game and is attempting to surpass his father’s legacy, working on a device that would ultimately allow people to record, distort, and change their memories. During the course of his research, he accidentally becomes entangled with his own experiment and finds himself split into ten fragments of consciousness. With each ‘section’ of his consciousness active for only a limited time each hour, Ethan, with the help of co-worker and former flame, Alli (Paton Ashbrook), must figure out how to put himself back together again.

Despite being a film within the science-fiction genre, and having a scientist protagonist, Minor Premise doesn’t look quite how you might expect. Expectations based on the log-line would point to a shiny white laboratory setting, highly organised and clean, complete with lots of fancy and futuristic technology. In reality, Minor Premise has much more visually in common with early Fincher. The film is dimly dark, dirty; Ethan’s basement lab is in a state of total disarray. The machines that are utilised in the experiment have an industrial aesthetic, giving the impression that Ethan really has cobbled it together at home. It’s not the first film to subvert conventions in this way, but by doing so, director Eric Schultz demonstrates he’s not one to follow the crowd.

The dark environment of the film is matched by an almost oppressive state of claustrophobia, with almost the entire film played out within the walls of that basement lab; the viewer feels just as trapped as Ethan and Alli. The reclusive nature of the character and the confinement he has to endure in order to fix things, hits in a way that was not likely anticipated pre-pandemic. Now, as an audience, we know that sensation of being trapped inside our homes, which makes it very easy to sympathise with at least one element of Ethan’s plight. The other aspects fall more into the science-fiction category, but can still be read as an exploration of self and the inner psyche – Ethan is locked in a bitter battle with some aspects of his personality he would rather keep hidden.

A true head puzzle, Minor Premise demands the audience’s full commitment and mostly rewards their patience with an intriguing exploration of the mind. However, the timeline and timescale of the story becomes difficult to identify, which hinders keeping track of what is happening and why. There’s plenty of shots of clocks, and time is an important factor within the story due to the limited conscious time of what is termed ‘Default Ethan, but these clocks and timers are never really utilised in relation to the physical passage of time. It’s unclear if Ethan and Alli are working on the task for hours, days, weeks, or more. On occasion, this issue becomes a point of frustration and an irritating blocker between viewer and narrative.

As a feature debut, Minor Premise is a bold offering. The film has some interesting design aspects and an innovative story idea, it just struggles to fully realise them consistently throughout the film.

Minor Premise was reviewed at Fantasia 2020.