Given how well-worn the time travel and multiverse concepts have become — thanks to everything fromDoctor Whoto the Marvel Cinematic Universe — it’s refreshing when one breaks from the familiar formula.Christopher Nolan’sTenetwas certainly the most original of the 2020s, only for its convoluted plot and lack of answers to be more frustrating than entertaining.
WithSite, writer-director Jason Eric Perlman offers one of the most conceptually fascinating takes on time travel yet. Centered on property inspector Neil, played byWill Trent’s Jake McLaughlin, the small-town family man tries to win his way back into their life after a drunk-driving accident saw his wife kick him out.
After inspecting an abandoned government test site as part of a big deal for his realtor boss, Neil begins having haunting visions of a family tormented in an internment camp in the past. With few people believing him, Neil tries to find the truth behind what happened at the facility 50 years ago before it completely destroys his life.
For the first half of the film,Sitecertainly had me hooked, as the characters were grounded with interesting arcs. The mystery behind the abandoned facility and visions also creates some intrigue. However, Perlman doesn’t quite land the ship as the plot becomes messier and messier.
Site’s Story Never Knows Whether To Give Us Answers Or Not
Time travel is an infamously complicated concept that storytellers generally take two very different paths to tackling: they either explain in detail how their devices work, thus bogging the story down in rules and science, or purposely avoid this discussion, giving them more freedom. I’ve always been partial toLooper’s method, in which Bruce Willis shuts it down with “It doesn’t matter!”.
WithSite, Perlman weirdly finds himself in a middle ground between telling us what’s going on and leaving some things up to interpretation. Neil’s research into the facility’s past offers some answers as to what happened and vaguely what they were working on, while some character discussions give explicit half-answers.
This is even further evidenced by how the movie closes out its big arcs, which is one of the most confusing I’ve seen in the time-travel genre in a long time.
I could argue that the movie is meant to be more about its characters, particularly Neil redeeming himself in the eyes of his wife and son, or journalist Naomi, played byThe Terroralum Miki Ishikawa, dealing with racist criticism and her troubled past with Neil. But even as it takes moments to focus on these beats, the big focus on the mystery makes this argument hard to justify.
This is even further evidenced by how the movie closes out its big arcs, which is one of the most confusing I’ve seen in a long time.Site’s combination of time travel and reincarnation ideology is never satisfactorily explained. It also raises too many questions about the characters' fates.
Perlman’s Direction Is Both Stylish & Hampered By His Budget
Despite being a fairly independent production, I do have to commend Perlman for providing some unique visuals. The kaleidoscopic-like approach to Neil’s visions makes them feel simultaneously dreamlike and nightmarish, while the depictions of the past lives he becomes entangled with are nicely practical in their post-World War I setting.
However, Perlman’s ambitions are often hampered by a smaller budget. Certain scenes are too clearly shot in front of green screens, with his actors looking out of place with their surroundings, while some visual effects don’t quite land the way they were intended.
Arielle Kebbell Is The True Standout Of Site’s Cast
Having been an admirer of Jake McLaughlin’s work since the woefully underratedBelieve, I was looking forward to him getting another complex character in the form of Neil, who is keen to leave behind his wilder past and be a proper family man. Though his arc starts off strong, I couldn’t help but want more emotion from him once the stakes rise.
The other problem with his and a few other actors' performances is the direction given for when they’re having their visions. Their absent stares don’t really convey the emotions needed in certain scenes. It also feels goofy, taking me out of those moments.
The one standout of the bunch is Arielle Kebbell as Neil’s wife, Elena. The actress brings remarkable compassion to her character as a mother wanting what’s best for her son, even if holding on to some past love for her husband.
Siteis a movie that’s made up of a solid foundation with an interesting concept, ambitious direction, and a talented cast that can’t find a way to maintain its better efforts along the way. While it may not be one of my favorites of the genre, its twist on the time travel genre will at least stick with me far more thanTenetdid.
Site
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A small-town family man, Neil Bardo, stumbles into a time-warp while inspecting an abandoned government test site—only to be haunted by nightmarish visions of a repressive past, including harrowing echoes of World War II atrocities at Unit 731.
