Acidman Review – Solid Performances, Stunning Cinematography, Entertaining

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Wednesday, 29 March 2023 15:25

Written by Janet Walker

Acidman, from Brainstorm Media, brings to the screen a story of family, estrangement, devotion, and investment as a father and daughter attempt to rebuild their relationship after time, distance, hostility, and misunderstandings have eroded the foundation.

The film begins with a road trip. We travel with Maggie, played by Dianna Agron, through the lush and remote Oregon wilderness. The cinematography is stunning and inviting. She pulls into the driveway of an old, weathered trailer, which has been spraypainted with the word "Acidman" in bright neon orange.

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Soon Lloyd, played by Thomas Haden Church, arrives and the two dance around pleasantries. We begin to see the strain in their relationship. A divorce, his pursuit of scientific engineering, astronomy, and a belief that he has seen UFO's, and her desire to begin a new life, erase the history of childhood, and a belief that when that happens life, and all the unanswerable questions will suddenly be answered and we will be free from the past.

As he is somewhat of a hoarder, and eccentric, having his daughter arrive throws his lifestyle off a bit, and while he is welcoming, and happy to see her, he expects judgement for his beliefs. She seems to be considered for his wellbeing and the two tiptoe closer to mending their broken relationship.

As an engineer by profession and an amateur scientist, he has been conducting experiments to determining if he can actually contact the "stars" he believes are flashpoints on the horizon and so as he is working on a schedule, he asks her to come along.

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We also understand that while she haven't been as forthcoming with him, she is running from the past and the future and is somehow trying to make sense of life. The idea that he is searching for UFO's is never considered mentally ill, even as his reactions to moments are extreme, he is able to articulate with clarity which in science is the beginning of moving into a new possibility.

Of course along the pathway to healing comes the clash of misunderstanding and miscommunication. It can be easier to leave and never look back, and even as this point arrives, tragedy brings them back together as if fate or kismet or some unknown force is keeping them from a second severing.

It isn't until the end, when we get a glimpse of the possibility of maybe there is something greater out there in the cosmic universe and in these tiny moment in time, for some reason, however they manifest, they choose someone to give just a little spark, a little knowledge and then they are gone, and we are left knowing that the impossible may very well be possible.

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Acidman is a film on tolerance, forgiveness and allowing others to live the life they chose without judgment. Both Thomas Haden Church and Dianna Argon deliver strong performances and embody the dynamics of the strained but understanding father-daughter relationship.

With stunning scenes from the Oregon wilderness, Acidman, an emotional, tender, and entertaining film, opens March 31, 2023. See it.

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Country: USA.

Language: English.

Runtime: 87minutes.

Directed by: Alex Lehmann.

Written by: Alex Lehmann, Chris Dowling

Produced by: Liz Cardenas, Alex Lehmann, Dianna Agron, Christian Agypt.

Starring: Thomas Haden Church, Dianna Agron, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris.