User Reviews

For the ones about to watch this film here's a few things to consider: it's a nicely shot film with an interesting storyline and good acting. Pace is slow but picks up half way through and the plot keeps you interested. You 'll encounter some inconsistencies and some massive plot holes but if you're willing to put these aside, you ll enjoy it. 7,5/10

We watch lots of movies, often 5 or 6 a week. Most of them are recycled themes of one sort or another. This one, Synchronic, is mostly novel and that is refreshing. It also was filmed in and around New Orleans, a place we are very familiar with and love dearly.

A chemist has synthesized a new mind-altering drug, but its novelty is that the user doesn't just imagine they are in some sort of strange journey, they actually go there. Just as you can place the phonograph needle on any part of a record and listen to what is there, the drug causes you to be transported to any place and time, but it is mostly random.

This is all fiction of course but it is treated interestingly in this story of two paramedics, long-time friends. For one of them his teenage daughter disappears after a dose and the other takes it upon himself to buy up all remaining Synchronic and figure out a way to find her and send her back home.

The movie is very well scripted and very well made, we enjoyed it all the way through. At home on DVD from our public library.

I hadn't even heard about this 2019 movie titled "Synchronic" before now in 2021, as I had the chance to sit down and watch it. I read the synopsis for the movie and it sounded like it could be something worthwhile watching. So I gave the movie a chance.

And yeah, "Synchronic" definitely was watchable, but it wasn't an impressive movie. The storyline was just way too generic and predictable. It felt like writer Justin Benson was opting for the easiest way for constructing a storyline for the movie. Everything was just so linear and running on auto-pilot. So I can't really claim to have been blown away by the storyline told in "Synchronic".

Actually I would say that the movie's directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead set up a whole lot of things that had potential, but ultimately they failed to bring them to fruition, and it just felt half-hearted. There definitely was potential to be found in the movie, but it was just wasted as nothing felt thoroughly explored, explained or exposed.

The acting in the movie was good, but the actors and actresses just didn't have an overwhelming amount of material to work with, so it felt like it was semi-hindered performances.

My rating of "Synchronic" lands on a very bland and mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie is good enough for a single viewing, if you enjoy linear sci-fi movies. But the contents of the storyline just were far too feeble to support more than a single viewing. "Synchronic" came and went without leaving much of any ripples in the fabric of time and space.

Synchronic is a film with lost potential. First of all, the film has a very long plot and the main events begin to develop in the middle of the timing. Secondly, Synchronic does not develop the topic of time travel, not to mention the fact that these movements themselves are not logically related, and the last movement associated with the finale of the film is not only not logical, but looks like nonsense. It seems that the authors had a concept, but they could not implement it in any way. Synchronic is one of the worst time travel movies. Not only because there is a terribly logical ending, but also the incoherence of events in general and lost potential.

There are certain topics, that a lot of film makers avoid, because either its physically to complicated to set up rules and explain them, or they fear the possible backlash. This is why it's even more refreshing to see this approach back in cinema again.

While the movie doesn't reinvent the wheel, it is an absolute joy to watch and you are not being held back from enjoying the plot by wondering about the specific mechanics about "how does this actually work?" (Without going into spoilers to much, just see it for yourself!)

Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie have an authentic and gripping buddy relationship and both of them should be happy to have signed up for this script. I even struggle to put this movie into a genre, because there is no "Buddy-Thriller-Scifi-Horror-Dramady" category. This movie is weird in the most positive sense of the word and should be enjoyed without reading any spoilers ahead, hence this style of review.

The budget for this movie wasn't massive, but due to a fantastic piece of cinematography work, it looks much more expensive and just beautifully well done! Yes, money is important in this industry, but here we have a stunning example what can be done with dedication and creativity!

"Synchronic" is surely only worth watching if you're very much into time-travel movies, which I like to think I am, but even this one was lackluster to me. Plus, it's got Anthony Mackie. Seems like this guy is everywhere on my streaming channels lately. He was just in that other movie that appeared on Netflix lately but I decided to pass on, "Outside the Wire" (2021), and I delayed viewing the latest episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" on Disney+ for this one. Not that it's Mackie's fault. He seems like a chill guy--kind of an everyman quality to him, yet gorgeous and fit, but I digress. The movie's promotion seems to indicate that another guy is a co-lead here, but his character really doesn't matter. The pacing is pretty bad--wasting a lot of time on paramedic, family and medical stuff that hardly matters even in setting up the time-travel business--and overly-dramatic scoring does much of the heavy lifting early on to try to retain one's interest.

Even when it does finally get to the time travel, it's pretty dull. Right off the bat, the drug that allows these seven-minutes sojourns to the past was designed by a drug maker who claims to have not known what it'd do, but he named it "synchronic?" Uh huh, I'm sure Merck said the same thing about "ecstasy." Furthermore, the scenario and Mackie's character go to great lengths to define the parameters of the drug's time travel capabilities or rules, but I wonder why he never thought he might have more success with the time traveling if he didn't keep doing it while drunk. Maybe he would've had the clarity of mind to buy a guinea pig instead of using his beloved dog for his experiment, then, or maybe carry some sort of weapon or protection if he keeps running into deadly situations every trip. None of that, including the obligatory "Back to the Future" reference, would much matter, though, if the time travel resulted in more than an illustration that history is racist.

This is a decent movie. And that's unfortunate because the concept here is really cool and I think with better writing and less bland and uninspired directing/cinematography, this could have turned out to be a modern sci-fi/thriller classic.

The acting from the two leads, Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan is definitely solid, especially Mackie. However unlike Mackie's character, I didn't find Dornan's to be particularly interesting nor compelling, which is disappointing considering that his character has an important connection to the heart of the story.

The visual effects are pretty great but they could have really popped more if supported by directing and cinematography that didn't look and feel as bland as it was at times.

Synchronic also has some serious issues with pacing scattered throughout the runtime which was very hard not to notice, and at times the consistency of tone just wasn't quite there. At times it's a very dark and bleak watch, then there will be scenes that are quite funny but it just didn't work as well as it sounds like it would due to the vast contrasts.

To sum it up, it's a decent movie that is quite enjoyable and gripping enough to make you care somewhat. It's just a shame that it's not what it could have been.

Why is it that when theres a movie with an original idea or script people complain and hate about it, because of this toxicity future writers and directors might not want to take the next step to do original ideas. Yes, the movie is not a masterpiece and sometimes it feels a bit rushed ( when Anthony M. Starts discovering how it works ) but overall it has a great concept, great actors and emotion. Just watch it and ignore the bad reviews.

Interesting concept and excellent base material and acting, but the writing fumbled what could have been a very good story.

Great acting....check Great story....check Great cinematography....check Great scifi thriller...check Great ending...check Highly recommend you watch this gem.... CHECK!!!!!!!!

It's a very solid scifi thriller very well acted!!

... but it's a bad trip, mistimed and persistently incurable as 'The Time Machine' is replaced by a synthetic pill and a pair of modern day Morlocks demonstrate just how bad storytelling, film making and special defects can be - couldn't even cast a decent rock!

A brilliant idea that could have been really great. But focuses too much on the drama aspect of their normal lives as apposed to this awesome sci-fi idea, which ends up feeling more like the secondary plot. Shame.

There's also many plot holes and inconsistencies.

Really wanted to love it. Fingers crossed they'll one day do a remake and nail it.

Great story idea... execution, however; could have been better. The acting was good - the lead guy has always been one of my favorites.

I guess there was just too much empty time. Time they could have used to bring add some substance to their characters. I didn't really feel connected to any of them. If they all lived - fine. If they all died - fine? And the end - BOORRRING AND LAME!

RECOMMENDATION - If you are like me, and just like to have a movie playing in the background while doing something else. This movie is for you. You could walk out of the room for 10-15 minutes, come back and pick it up without missing much of anything!