WATCH THE FILM HERE
First, the Recap:
When you have your deep suspicions about something, it is VERY hard NOT to do all in your power to keep looking into it. The circumstances that have become the harbingers for what you then pursue can be a seriously overwhelming force, with satisfaction only arriving upon your means to PROVE what it is you believe is happening or is about to happen. But in having such an overtly potent degree of unsettled mindset, what happens if things aren’t actually as they appear? Musician Ivo (Zahari Turmanov) is now completely convinced that a random man (Miroslav Petkov) he ran into is far more than he appears. Haunted by the visions of what he believes will come about, Ivo chases after his theory to the disconcert of friend and bandmate Kate (Simona Rose) who thinks he’s lost it. How it will all play out will assuredly alter everyone’s lives, and perhaps not at all in the best of ways.
Next, my Mind:
Ominous portents of chaos, ongoing visions of what the future seems to hold, and the relentless but potentially destructive potency of obsession to find out the truth all collide and culminate to form a smartly executed 18-minute dramatic short film that arrives from Bulgarian indie writer/director/producer/editor/cinematographer Miroslav Petkov who this time collaborates with executive producers Ian Aberle, Case Aiken, Gary Dando, Loup Dargent, and Andrew Pierson, associate producers Stephen Kreil, Sherry McCutcheon, and Barry Vonk plus assistant producers Philip Brocklehurst, Justin Buzzard, Nick Fendick, John J. Kerecz, Marvin Maddicks Jr., Alain Marche, and Karis Maree. One aspect of being a critic focused on the independent cinematic arena, especially when it does pay tribute to many a grass roots effort from all over the world, it allows one to begin appreciating an artist’s work from the beginning and then, hopefully, watching it expand and evolve in quality. For me, that is precisely what this particular project from Petkov represents.
Having now recently reviewed two of the filmmaker’s other works (see “The Whisper” and “Drums” write-ups), this narrative that centers on a burgeoning musician whose totally random encounter with a stranger sends him on a spiraling path of fixation, possible delusion, conceivable clairvoyance, and an ever-escalating path of mental breakdown in a search for the meaning of what he’s “seen” and IS “seeing” is conveyed with the now-consistently exercised mix of Petkov’s uncomplicated set pieces, apropos atmosphere and tone, straightforward storytelling, perfect pacing, and engaging character-driven leanings (defining factors for indie cinema as a whole), but somehow this time with a firmer magnitude of total adeptness AS a film in comparison perhaps to his now earlier work, a more evident and building maturity if you will, all signs that we’re looking at a filmmaker who is wishing to be constantly progressing in his skillsets as he goes, rather than even thinking about settling for “well, it’s what I can do with what I have” and that’s that. TAKING that “little” and still PUSHING to BE better. That to me IS the heartbreak of indie film.
With the narrative’s primary objectives as mentioned above well at hand, the film assuredly can make us take at least a mildly deeper dive into the very nature of us as human beings in how the thematic turns addressing said directions can make us look at just HOW assumption paired with not enough understanding can be both a drive to explore and learn, but also a sheer journey towards oblivion, and the impact our manias can end up having on those around us who care, much less how the film ends up that just might redefine the entire notion of “what you’ve SEEN is what you get” and at what cost that realization and resolution could come to. I might have initially wished to FEEL the intensity that’s being presented a little more perhaps, that “you could just CUT the tension in the air with a knife” kind of vibe that I believe is what was being aimed for, but what I deem the ultimate twist we’re provided is still worth the view and certainly makes you want to re-assess those times YOU might have gleaned something that’s eating away at you, but chose NOT to indulge in it. Might be a better decision to err on that side of caution!
Another facet grass root indie efforts do offer is the chance for new actors to have the medium to venture further and/or explore their craft, even in an equally vulnerable manner that the filmmaker themselves, and so from what I could initially discover, this would seem to be the case for Turmanov (based solely on what I saw in his IMDb profile, mind you) in his lead role here as Ivo, a regular guy and musician who’s suddenly thrust into an unexpectedly volatile circumstance when a “vision” he keeps seeing involving a total stranger sends him down a rabbit hole of discovery that may or may not actually manifest into even proof of anything being true, much less in believing he’s doing a greater good by pursuing it all. But, exactly HOW this will all transpire is what we’re following, and I give Turmanov full props for taking on a character role that does require fluctuating emotional turmoil, as that is NOT an easy thing to portray without that peril of overacting it. This doesn’t occur here, and Turmanov’s performance is perfectly fine, grounded, and well in line with the story being told. Room to grow, yes, but still totally solid here.
Primary supporting roles arrive first from Petkov himself as “The Man” (whom we eventually find out is named Krasimir) whom Ivo has the visions and run-in with and who will be the main focal point of Ivo’s tumultuous preoccupation with the only question whether that ends up to his own detriment or Ivo’s, and Simona Rose as Kate, Ivo’s close friend and bandmate who more than tries to make it known that he should just LEAVE it all alone when it comes to his pursuit of what he believes the visions mean and by doing so is sacrificing those like her who just want him to be back to normal. Additional supporting roles come through Desi Kraleva, Vélin Borata, and Nathan Shepka. So, in total, “Paranoia” for this critic clearly stands as Petkov’s strongest film project to date, demonstrating an established commitment to his art, what he aims to achieve with it, and still how he desires to keep building on every ounce of experience he can gain. It is a taut, low-budget wonder with a twist that should be applauded, as anyone who’s IN the business FULLY understands what it takes to find the means to make a project happen and the HEART to see it through.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
