An Artistically Crafted Noir Sci-Fi
Pulling off a robust, well written time travel story without plot inconsistencies is no easy feat. 7 Splinters In Time is an indie noir sci-fi that sets out to tell a tight-knit story about a man splintered across time as a result of one key moment in his life. While it would be easy to write this one off as another low budget Indie production, 7 Splinters is a surprisingly compelling, thrilling ride and one of the better time travel stories out there. It’s best to go into this one blind, with no prior knowledge of the film or its premise. At its most basic form, the film follows a man called Darius (Edoardo Ballerini) whom everyone seems to call Daniel. Despite being suspended from duty as a detective, Darius receives a call to a crime scene where he discovers the murder victim looks exactly like him. From here the film becomes a bit complicated and to give anything away would be a disservice to the film itself. Suffice to say, the plot works well after some initial confusion and toward the end everything seems to slot into place in a convincing way. The crux of the plot predominantly revolves around one key moment in Darius’ life that acts as the anchor to the splintered existence he finds himself consumed by. The only way to stop this is to change the past in order to save the future. While this all sounds a bit convoluted, and at times 7 Splinters certainly walks a fine line in this respect, the story has really compelling arc and is rounded out in impressive fashion. The technicality with some of the shots, along with the editing and dominating use of black and white, are really well implemented and make this a suitably artistic venture as well as an enjoyable one. The one area that 7 Splinters struggles with, along with its low budget and basic set design, is the acting. Some of the performances are a little over the top and exaggerated, lacking the subtlety needed during some of the more tense moments to accentuate the drama. It’s further hindered by some of the suppporting cast that don’t really have much in the way of a character arc. While the musical score has a certain noir quality to it, the music also lacks any sci-fi elements which does contrast a little too much with what’s going on on-screen. Of course, this is the sort of film that’s likely to divide opinion. There will be those put off by the low budget, dominant use of artistic shots and over the top acting but if you can look past some of these limitations, there’s a robust, well written story worth experiencing. It’s particularly impressive too that there’s barely any plot inconsistencies and the time travel mechanic largely remains convincing and intact throughout this one’s 75 minute run time. If you’re looking for an enjoyable time travel story that’s not too long and values story over special effects and action, this one is well worth checking out, even if it does have some flaws along the way.
