Flashback (2021)
Click to viewDylan O'Brien is the lead in this, and oddly the only actor I recognize. I've long noted that he has the ability to play much younger and older that his actual age of 30, often with just a change of hairstyle, and this film makes the most of it.
DOB plays Freddie, and the trailer and the film's summary led me to think it was about a girl he knew in high school, Cindy, that disappeared before final exams. He's starting to remember things, and seeks out two buddies from high school who did a drug called Mercury with Freddie and Cindy. I had a hint there was much more to it than a drug overdose and/or accidental killing, but didn't quite know what it would be.
Freddie is married to Karen, who is trying to help him deal with the fact that his mother is in mental decline and doesn't even recognize him from her death bed. He's working in a cubicle job, exactly what isn't clear, but there are reports with deadlines, while he'd rather spend his time investigating what happened to Cindy. His boss calls him out at one point about his lack of focus, with his artwork of his memories strewn about his desk, but he tap dances around the real reason, and doesn't even try to play the "my mother is dying" card.
I'll be honest, it took me about half the film to get a handle on the plot, and even then it's a tenuous grip. Not spoiling too much, but we learn that the flashbacks Freddie has been having are more akin to time travel. He's seeing the past and present, often jumbled together. The drug he took back in high school has apparently done this to him, and he's flung from one time to another trying to figure out what really happened to Cindy and what's happening to him. Is it even really happening? With Freddie as his name, and Mercury the drug's name, the lyrics "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" come to mind.
Worth a watch, but I honestly had to watch a YouTube video explaining the end to "get it". Gets very trippy at times, and I will caution there's a frequent use of strobe effects during the flashback bits. Made me unable to watch some of the quick cut scenes that could have helped me better understand the plot.