Home Entertainment: ’Phase’ digital review

This last year has of course been tough for everyone and all industries have faced more than their fair share of hardships. The movie industry has been hit especially hard with productions halted, film releases postponed, and filmmakers left scrambling to try and find a way to continue doing what they love to do during these unusual times. These uncertain times have, however, still produced some incredible feats of imaginative creativity, the standout being Rob Savage’s Host, which tells of a Zoom seance that goes horribly wrong. Savage and his team aren’t the only ones that have been hard at work and other films made during the pandemic are now starting to emerge. 

One of these films is Phase. Made on a minuscule budget, Phase champions the independent DIY spirit of filmmaking, featuring the multi-talented Richard Sandling in a range of roles. Phase marks his directorial feature debut, but Sandling also writes, produces, edits, scores and stars in the project. Filmed entirely via Zoom during the first UK lockdown isolation, the story follows the life of a performer as he tries to survive not only a viral plague, but also bodysnatchers from a parallel dimension. 

Phase may lack the mind-bending in-camera tricks and stunts of fellow Zoom project Host, but it does feature a killer script. Leaning heavily into comedy, Phase offers an honest portrayal of the groups of people within Britain during the first lockdown. Richard’s first video call with his parents is horribly accurate and should really come with a trigger warning. Many watching will immediately identify with Richard as he desperately tries to explain to his ‘at risk’ parents the importance of following lockdown restrictions whilst correcting misconceptions and falsehoods. The scene touches upon all of the key early pandemic naysayers, from pasta hoarding to bending the exercise rule whilst blindly opting to believe their neighbour from up the street rather than solid advice from the WHO and the NHS. It instantly throws up all those feelings of frustration that most had to contend with when talking with someone with these unfounded views, but also skewers the situation so beautifully that you’ll be more inclined to cry with laughter than anything else. 

The film goes on to play out across a series of video conversations between Richard and a variety of differing views and opinions. We have the girl who believes she was born for lockdown, content to never see an in-real-life person again, as well as the conspiracy theory nut who believes that the pandemic is a cover for an alien invasion. It could all be viewed as madness were it not such a true reflection of the thoughts and feelings of so much of the population. The whole film works as a microcosm of society and generates a feeling of a social media feed committed to video. 

In addition to watching Richard diplomatically handle all the contrasting feelings of those around him, we also see him tackle a lot of personal problems. There’s some awkward interactions with his girlfriend that has chosen to isolate with her elderly mother in addition to the chronicling of his attempt to make something of his career as a performer. He’s got some big virtual gigs coming up for his poetry and music and scenes where he pleads with a more ‘famous’ friend for a shout-out and appears on a popular vodcast highlight the fickle shallowness of the industry. 

Hidden amongst all of this is a nod to the classic Invasion of the Bodysnatchers tale, Sandling working extremely hard to convey the difference of those that may or may not have turned. It’s a difficult thing to portray within the constraints of a webcam, but the changes, although not especially subtle, do work. 

The constraints of the filming conditions do cause a few issues, for one there’s no opportunity for clever camera flourishes. Its micro-budget is evident at times, more so in the lack of effects than anything else, but doesn’t detract from the feature as a whole. The result is a film that is visually a little rough around the edges, but which more than makes up for it with its piercing satire of a country going pandemic mad.  

Phase is available to buy or rent via Vimeo on Demand now.