I found “I’ll Follow You Down” to be more enjoyable in a scientific sense. For me, I enjoyed how smart the film was and filmmaker Richie Mehta’s approach to the science of wormholes and time travel but also the science of altering the present by changing the past. Because it’s approach to time travel is different from other films and TV series that tackled the subject of time travel, I enjoyed “I’ll Follow You Down” because of that. Sure, it may not be comedy or overly dramatic as other films but if you enjoy smart sci-fi films, especially about time travel, “I’ll Follow You Down” is a film worth recommending.
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TITLE: I’ll Follow You Down
YEAR OF FILM: 2013
DURATION: 93 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Closed Captions
COMPANY: Well Go USA Entertainment
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: August 5, 2014
Written and Directed by Richie Mehta
Produced by Lee Kim
Music by Andrew Lockington
Cinematography by Tico Poulakakis
Edited by Stuart A. McIntyre
Casting by Jenny Jue, Johanna Ray
Production Design by Chris Crane
Art Direction by Jennifer Marie Thomas
Set Decration by Zosia Mackenzi
Costume Design by Kelsey Hart
Starring:
Haley Joel Osment as Erol
Gillian Anderson as Marika
Rufus Sewell as Gabe
Victor Garber as Sal
Brandon Firla as Jimmy
John Paul Ruttan as Young Erol
Susanna Fournier as Grace
After the disappearance of an accomplished physicist (Rufus Sewell), his son Erol (Haley Joel Osment) and wife Marika (Gillian Anderson) struggle to cope. Years later, now a young scientist himself, Erol discovers a formula that could kill him, throw him into the unknown…or bring his family back together.
Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta (“Amal”, “Siddharth”) returns with a sci-fi movie titled “I’ll Follow You”, which was released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment.
The film stars Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”, “Pay It Forward”), Gillian Anderson (“The X Files”, “The Last King of Scotland”), Rufus Sewell (“Dark City”, “The Illusionist”, “A Knight’s Tale”), Victor Garber (“Alias”, “Titanic”, “Argo”) and Susanna Fournier (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”, “Being Human”).
“I’ll Follow You Down” begins in 2000 when accomplished physicist Gabe (portrayed by Rufus Sewell) is saying goodbye to his wife Marika (portrayed by Gillian Anderson) and his young son Erol (portrayed by John Paul Ruttan) and is leaving on a business trip.
But on the day he is schedule to arrive, Marika is shocked that Gave has not arrived back.
Marika and her father, physicist professor Sal (portrayed by Victor Garber) try to look into details that may shed a clue on why Gabe has not arrived and Marika finds his wallet and keys. While Sal, finds something else in Gabe’s laboratory.
Fast forward 12 years later and Erol (portrayed by Haley Joel Osment) is engaged to Grace (portrayed by Susanna Fournier) but we learned that the disappearance of Gabe has rocked his family.
His mother Marika has difficulty living without knowing what happened to Gabe. Is he dead? Did he find another woman? What happened to him?
As for Erol, he is brilliant when it comes to physics but because of his mother’s instability, he is unable to pursue MIT and attends the college that his grandfather is teaching.
But Erol’s life will not be the same ever again when his grandfather tells him about his father’s project and the ability to go back in time. He shows Erol papers, formulas and a machine that his father was working on and what is the possibility that his father did go back in time. But why didn’t he return?
But will Erol pursue his father’s research and risk changing the present?
VIDEO:
“I’ll Follow You Down” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1 aspect ratio). Featuring crisp detail during close-ups, the film does have a sort of darkness that surrounds it (which works with the actual storyline which deals with depression and dreariness). But overall picture quality is very good.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“I’ll Follow You Down” is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The film is primarily a dialogue-driven film. While the more action-related scenes take place towards the end, one should not expect anything too immersive. Dialogue is crystal clear and fort he most part, works with this film.
The film comes with closed captions.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“I’ll Follow You Down” comes with the following special features:
- Behind the Scenes – (12:47) The making of the score of “I’ll Follow You down”.
- Deleted Scenes – Featuring four deleted scenes.
- Trailer – (2:07) The theatrical trailer for “I’ll Follow You Down”.
When it comes to time travel films, there are those who want to see dramatics and also danger when it comes to its protagonist and the challenges that individual may face.
May it be a comedy such as “Back to the Future” or even “Star Trek IV”, elements of danger such as “Terminator” or even heartwrenching drama as featured in “Somewhere in Time”.
But there are times where I want to see the technical or mathematical process that one comes up with in a film and thus, “I’ll Follow You Down” is a time travel film that is enjoyable but it may be a bit too depressing, too dreary or even to much of an intellectual movie for some.
The concept of time travel, altering the past and accidentally changing the future has been explored before in film, but the way it is presented in “I’ll Follow You Down” is rather fascinating.
A brilliant young man named Erol finds out that his missing father, who he pretty much has lived as if his father has been dead, has been given research papers and information that his father may be alive.
After diligent research and unfortunate tragedy, he pursues his father’s research and learns why his father was unable to come back. But what if he was able to go back in time to send a message to his father and change the present?
Unfortunately, changing the present is not easy when he finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant. Would you risk the present and the chance to have a family or would you alter the past in order to make sure the present is changed for the best?
The film focuses on this and ends with this and how Richie Mehta is able to separate his film from other time travel films is rather cool! Granted, he is going the opposite of other bigger budget films that have done well with its comedy and drama for focusing on the actual science of time travel and changing the present by altering the past (something that is always considered as a no-no in sci-fi films and television shows).
The film stars an older Haley Joel Osment which many of us have not seen since his child film years, the always beautiful Gillian Anderson and is there a film and TV show that Victor Garber has not appeared in? And fortunately, Rufus Sewell does have more screen time than his short stint at the beginning of the film but the four manage to do a very good job for this film.
The Blu-ray features a colder feel, while picture quality looks very good with no problematic scenes or any artifacts. The film is primarily dialogue-driven, so don’t expect anything too immersive. And you have several short special features included as well.
Overall, I found “I’ll Follow You Down” to be more enjoyable in a scientific sense. For me, I enjoyed how smart the film was and filmmaker Richie Mehta’s approach to the science of wormholes and time travel but also the science of altering the present by changing the past. Because it’s approach to time travel is different from other films and TV series that tackled the subject of time travel, I enjoyed “I’ll Follow You Down” because of that.
Sure, it may not be comedy or overly dramatic as other films but if you enjoy smart sci-fi films, especially about time travel, “I’ll Follow You Down” is a film worth recommending.