Rating: C+
Dir: Miroslav Petkov
Star: Nikola Penchev, Miroslav Petkov, Vélin Borata, Simona Rose
This was originally intended as the third in a series of short films, but ended up expanding to the point where it became a feature. You don’t need to have seen the shorts to get a hand on this, though both The Whisper and The Whisper 2: Natural Connection are on YouTube. This movie follows on almost directly, beginning with the disappearance of a TV reporter who was, himself, investigating a locale called Bonnivar Park, the nexus for a spate of incidents in which people have gone missing. We then follow the attempts of Nick (Penchev) and Alex (Petkov), who have lost their girlfriend and sister respectively there, to find out what happened to them.
It’s a rather complex and, at times, confusing structure, with events being reported from multiple different points of view, leading up to the arrival of the pair, along with Caine (Borata) at the dilapidated building which is the heart of the mystery. At first, I thought this was located in another dimension, but the trio arrive there by car – another vehicle can be seen on a road in the background. So it’s clearly a lot easier to reach than I expected. It is, however, a splendidly spooky location (top), and Petkov takes full advantage of it. Once inside, things continue to be rather disorienting. For example, there’s a scene where Alex is told he’s actually an actor who experienced a breakdown, which feels like it strayed in from Total Recall.
It does seem quite obvious that this was stitched together from various separate shoots – some characters never interact with anyone else directly – and there’s consequently a limited sense of “place”. You have a mix of Americans speaking English, Bulgarians speaking Bulgarian, and too many distracting examples of “acting in a second language”, with Bulgarians speaking English. This is to variable effect: some are fine, but others are barely intelligible, due to thick accents. While I understand a (mostly) English language film is an easier sell, I’d have had everyone stick to their native tongue, and figure out some way to explain the English speakers, e.g. tourists, visiting businessmen or whatever. But I have yet to make my first feature, so can’t really criticize!
Indeed, for a debut, Petkov handles things with unexpected assurance. It looks like he has put into practice what he learned from the preceding shorts, as well as others made by his company, Enigma Movie Productions. For example, he works around the need for special effects, understanding that bad FX are often worse than no FX at all. Additionally, while I’ve no doubt the budget here was small, there were few momens where the film reminded you of this. I think the multiple points of view might have been a misstep, since it means some of the characters don’t get enough time to achieve proper development. All told though, this is a promising debut.
[The film’s makers are currently working on commercial distribution]