BREAKING INFINITY *** UK 2023 Dir: Marianna Dean. 86 mins
I blame Christopher Nolan, Dr. Who, Stargate, The Time Tunnel, and the classic Star Trek episode ‘The Alternative Factor’ since they are all in Breaking Infinity (2023) and any other time paradox concept. This work is challenging to view since one must have their wits about them or details are missed be it dialogue, fact or object. Breaking Infinity (2023) this British-made film offers a concept of multiple timelines intersecting at the end of the world which in this case happens in Wales.
Masking as a techno-thriller the film opens with Liam (Neil Bishop), waking up with amnesia in a dead quiet intensive care room with stitches in his face and a bandage around his head. Liam is suddenly transported to a vision of an old man (Martin Bishop) dressed in an Obi-Wan Kenobi-style robe telling him to wake up. One wonders if that was the writers telling the audience to listen up to what is to come. Liam wakes up finding that his injuries are much less severe as in no broken ribs. He meets a friendly doctor Emma (Zoe Cunningham), who explains in some technical babble that the intense electromagnetic field causes memory loss.
The picture then revolves around Liam trying to recover his memory only to find that he has been working on a time travel machine which looks like the tunnel in The Time Tunnel Television series. Liam has turned himself into a quantum paradox by first using the device along with his fellow inventor Garret (Zed Josef). Lots of intrigues with little details, expounding on the string theory of time and the Universe and worry about the end of time happening in a cheap hotel in Wales.
The actors all do well all be it stilted in some moments as there is a lot of dialogue to chew on and be sincere. The drawback is that tech babble gets in the way of real human stories and the people in the world without soul. The science fiction genre is perhaps still divided into what was popularly known as Hard SF particularly in the beginnings during the forties and fifties. Hard SF was written by scientists using actual theories after having the precursor of technical talk which appealed to the early fans of the books. Early Arthur C. Clarke novels like A Fall Of Moondust concerned the rescue of a ship that sank into the lunar surface is an example. Breaking Infinity (2023) writer David Trotti tells a good story with some needless twists in it and moments of filler that serve to bring forth a romantic angle and industrial deception.
Breaking Infinity (2023) has a good pace, as well as being well directed as the action keeps moving even if the dialogue can get in the way especially when Liam keeps spouting “What the Hell”. The effects work well and blend with the music that is not intrusive. The film however just sits there and says to take your pick of how you understand and find your way which can work against an audience that is not engaged.
Review by Terry Sherwood
Breaking Infinity is available now on all major Digital Platforms (Amazon, Google and iTunes).