3 out of 5

Directed by: Mitzi Peirone

The reviews for Braid seem to fall into two general camps: that the film fails because it’s shallowness and shambles of plot overwhelmingly topple the positives its visuals offer; that the film succeeds despite its shallowness and shambling plot due to its visual splendors.

I fall into the latter camp, but maybe tempered more on both sides of those critiques: Braid definitely has moments of hyperactive visuals, particularly as it kicks off, but director Mitzi Peirone (and d.p. Todd Banhazl, and editor David Gutnik) appreciably back off of the music video edits and visuals once the film’s general gist has been established, shifting into a more patient, dream-like vibe; from early Aranofski to Lost Highway Lynchian.  To the characters and plot, I agree that there’s a bit lacking there, but I don’t think they’re exactly shallow, either, more that what Peirone was, I think, striving for, isn’t wholly achieved.  Characters are concepts (Lynch again); but instead of fully indulging in / merging the conceptual with the intensity of our subconscious’ realizations and declarations, Braid attempts to have an actual story, and then to add some meaning to that story, and so the whole thing feels rather imbalanced.  A late offering from one character, lamenting what happens when our dreams for ourselves collapse, falls flat amidst twists and turns that are unrooted from and already teetering reality.

Digging in to what may or may not have been meant by the flick’s setup is probably better off for late night coffee conversations I’ll never have, but I do think the all female cast, and flashbacks to childhood and blips of elder characters playing out the same roles is suggestive of something more…

On the surface, though, we have two on-the-lam ladies, Petula (Imogen Waterhouse) and Tilda (Sarah Hay), dodging police for being dealers as they also scheme up a way to pay back their dealer for lost supplies.  Cuts to black and white and swirling cameras and flash cuts are excused by the ladies dipping into their supplies; we are thrown into the end point of their scheming: visiting a childhood friend, Daphne (Madeline Brewer), and agreeing to play a rather twisted spin on a game from their past while they search for the safe assuredly tucked away in Daphne’s rather suspiciously empty mansion.

There’s a certain fairy tale vibe imbued here – albeit one with swearing and Adderall – in the way the plot sort of sing-songs from one point to another, and you’ll undoubtedly question how seriously we’re supposed to be taking some of this stuff, when story holes are waived away with one line explanations.  As Matt Zoller Seitz points out in his excellent review, though, Peirone is careful not to play this stuff overly cleverly or cutesy; all her actors are turned up to 11, yes, but the heightened sensation plays into the film’s confidence, that it’s moving forward whether you’re on board or not.

While, again, I don’t think the movie managed to successfully execute on its intentions – as I suspect those intentions are somewhat muddled behind wanting to land on certain images first, then justify them later – I was never rolling my eyes at Braid, or wondering if there’d be a payoff.  I was entertained, and, my favorite, brought to think about what I’d seen.  Concluding that maybe there wasn’t a ton to think about, I’d still love to discuss it over coffee some time…