Video wunderkind Gerald McMurrow makes his feature debut with Franklyn, an ambitious inter-dimensional daisy chain. In this entirely original science-fiction film, four lost, flutteringly beautiful souls – rebellious conceptual artist Eva Green, hard-boiled Ryan Phillippe, heartbroken Sam Riley, religious Bernard Hill – inhabit two parallel worlds headed for a apocalyptic collision.
Skipping lightly between contemporary London and theocratic alternative reality, Franklyn’s audacious use of twists and turns ensures we have absolutely no clue what’s going on until the final reveal. It doesn’t always work but it’s consistently remarkable thanks to a charismatic cast and the writer-director’s splendid knack with old school, matt backgrounds.
Made for a paltry $6 million, fans of Alan Moore will, ironically, find far more of their hero in this film than in the new $120 million version of Watchmen. Score one down for invention.