Every once in a while, I am glad to watch a movie that I wouldn’t normally watch. This, however, was not one of those times. In the 80 minutes that I sacrificed watching Breaking Infinity, an indie film about time travel, I did wonder if I could use their equipment to go back and not watch this film.
Directed by Marianna Dean (“Hollyoaks” TV series), the movie has an interesting story but little to no support. The budget for this science fiction thriller is minimal, but it is not the biggest issue with this film. The writing of David Trotti (“Exorcist: House of Evil”) is the culprit. Under-developed characters, a pedestrian story arc, and migraine-inducing dialogue abound. One scene was just, well —
“Who am I?”
“You don’t remember?
“Where am I?”
“Here.”
“What happened to me?”
Viewers are then propelled into a different point of time in a land that could have dinosaurs roaming across it soon. There also a similarly sad conversation is had —
“Where am I?”
“Where you need to be.”
“Where is that?”
“Here.”
The protagonist, Liam (Neil Bishop, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), is living in a quantum state, something he won’t let the viewer forget. He had exposed himself to radiation and the side effects to this is being able to travel through time. There was a mention of a mouse too, but the film never came around to explaining that. In fact, there is barely any explanation for anything going on at all in Breaking Infinity, and that’s a problem because the story needs a lot of explaining. Nonetheless, in his travels Liam has seen multiple points in the timeline and also reaches a point that is not in the past or future, but is just a spiral. There he meets an ominous old man (Martin Bishop, “Mr. Jones”) who is meant to help him, but only speaks in a cryptic language.
Additionally, as Liam finds himself shuttled around through space and time, he also has the burden to figure out what is his doctor, Emma’s (Zoe Cunningham, “Myrlan”) situation. What did she steal from her sister and if he finds out that answer, will she be with him at the end of the world? Thankfully, the writing is so bland and to the point, Liam spells out his interest in Emma because they have zero chemistry with each other.
In this science project, Liam has his superior, Carter (Jonny Phillips, “The Death of Stalin”) who enters the picture whenever any of the characters mentions the words, “risk” or “money.” He, like almost all the characters, is written extremely one-dimensionally so Carter being so money-minded is not a surprise. Working alongside Liam is Garret (Zed Josef, “Some Adult Content”), who for better or worse, is the only person making the movie bearable. While there are moments aplenty where he just threw around some science keywords and hoped that he made sense, he did it as earnestly as he could.
Script and mostly unimpressive characterizations aside, Breaking Infinity does enjoy the benefit of reasonably well-crafted sets, visual effects and even background score. Cinematographer Vince Knight (“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey”) and production designer Nia Fausset (Beyond Existence) deserve credit for managing to craft a believable science fiction atmosphere with meager funds. Their efforts, while applaudable, are not nearly enough, however, to give a watch recommendation. Unlike Liam, there is no way to go back in time to reclaim the hour that should be used for more interesting endeavors.
