The Gazer: Between pure suspense and sensory trip (critic)
A woman perceiving the time in a distorted way is lost in a maze parano. A first promising film, inhabited by the worried presence of an amazing actress, Ariella Mastroianni
It is a first long mowing, from the east coast of the USA, produced by an unknown (Ryan J. Sloan presents himself as an electrician from New Jersey), turned with a snatch on weekends, when he and her actress and co-scenarist Ariella Mastroianni (no link) had a little time and money in front of them. All in 16mm, granular at will – a genre in itself. The Gazer tells the story of Frankie, a young woman suffering from dyschronometry, a degenerative disease that prevents her from correctly perceiving time and regularly plunges it into losses of conscience. Disclaimed by her daughter following the mysterious death of her father, chaining jobs, Frankie will soon find herself lost in a labyrinthine enigma … The character’s dyschronometry also forbids her to use smartphones, and forces her to walk everywhere with an old Walkman on which she recorded auditory beacons helping her. This gimmick takes the place of an analog manifesto for the director, who pays here his tribute with the 70’s type thrillers type Secret conversation Or Blow out – and also a little to Memento. In the dreamlike scenes that experience the story, it is in Lynch and Cronenberg that we think, but this avalanche of references never prevents the film from standing, thanks to a really well -constructed police suspense, never pretext or backward -looking. The world that Ryan J. Sloan Draw is unique, heady, a New Jersey never seen, arranged by the sensory black holes and inhabited by the worried presence of an amazing actress.
By Ryan J. Sloan. With Ariella Mastroianni, Marcia Debonis, renee win… Duration 1h54. Released April 23, 2025
