Afflicted with a rare and fatal condition that affects her ability to perceive time and causes sudden blackouts, single mother Frankie Rhodes relies on self-recorded cassette tapes to help her navigate the world. Desperate to make ends meet while she fights for custody of her young daughter, she accepts a risky but high-paying job from a mysterious woman, which draws her into a world of paranoid conspiracies that threatens to swallow her whole.

The Garden Cinema View:

Ryan Sloan's directorial debut is a psychological thriller that draws unapologetically from The Conversation, Blow-Up, and Memento, particularly in its gritty neo-noir cinematography and sound design. Despite some body horror elements, it's far more of a mystery than a pure horror film.

The storytelling draws you in gradually, becoming increasingly compelling as the layers peel away. As viewers, we want to know ‘what happens next’, and for most of the runtime the film is genuinely unpredictable although it somewhat loses momentum in the final stretch.

Rather than a mere stylistic exercise, the grainy 16mm cinematography serves the story's themes about memory and truth. Sloan builds tension through character psychology, with Ariella Mastroianni's protagonist serving as our unreliable narrator.

This level of craft comes from a completely self-funded production by non-professional filmmakers Sloan and Mastroianni. In an industry dominated by franchise content, Gazer offers personal, uncompromising, and genuinely mysterious cinema worth your time.

Cast:
Ariella Mastroianni, Marcia Debonis, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts