FOIL – HorrorBuzz

Now that the days are longer and warmer, it’s time for some feel good movies. Foil is one such movie, a buddy flick that’s out of this world. Though the work traffics in the sci-fi genre, with a premise about a piece of foil that may have extraterrestrial origins, like any good genre film, it’s about much more than that. More specifically, Foil centers around a strained friendship between two long-lost friends who reunite for a 10-year high school reunion, only to get lost in the desert, trying to discover a potential vortex or even life on other planets.

Directed by Zach Green, who penned the script with co-star Devin O’Rourke, the film initially centers on Green’s character Dexter. Within the first ten minutes, we learn quite a bit about Dexter. He applies to work at a video rental store, and to say his career in Hollywood isn’t’ going anywhere is putting it mildly. Years ago, he made a cheesy B movie, but since then, he can’t get a script off the ground. The dude is simply down on his luck with stalled creative ambitions. He lives within the shadow of what could have been. In fact, when he returns to his small town, various characters he knew from high school act like he’s some bigshot Hollywood filmmaker. He goes along with it, at least for as long as he can, which is only about fifteen minutes into the runtime.

Dexter catches up with his old bestie, O’Rourke’s Rex, at a local pub. Eventually, they decide to drive out to the middle of the desert, where apparently there’s some magical vortex. It’s there where they meet the strange and unusual Tom (Chris Doubek) and Rambo (Brian McGuire). These odd men serve to underscore the strain between Rex and Dexter. Each protagonist relates to one of the older men. Rex bonds with Tom, who also believes in the paranormal and the chance of life on other plants, while Dexter relates to Rambo because of their intense love of film. This is very much a character-driven film, and it works. Through Rex and Dexter’s interactions with total strangers, their simmering conflict reaches its boiling point. Tom and Rambo essentially serve as listening boards for the younger men and all the gripes they have about each other. It’s quite an inventive way to underscore the film’s central conflict.

The narrative certainly veers into some weird places, but it never really strays from its more light-hearted tone and it’s a heck of a lot of fun. The sci-fi elements, which are never over the top or totally outlandish, serve the narrative, especially the believer in Rex versus the sort-of-skeptic in Dexter, even if he loves Horror and sci-fi films.

O’Rourke and Green have a creative feature on their hands. While the film dabbles with the concept of ETs and otherworldly vortexes, there’s a very human story here about the bonds of friendship and the difficulty in maintaining them against the passing of time. This movie is a delightful ride as we inch closer to summer.

7.5 Out of 10