Parallel Minds is a 2020 Canadian science-fiction murder mystery about the death of a programmer of a self-aware AI computer. Her colleague and a police detective investigate whether it was suicide or murder.
Written and directed by Benjamin Ross Hayden, the Voice Pictures-Chaos, a Film Company production stars Greg Bryk, Tommie-Amber Pirie and Michelle Thrush.
Plot:
On the verge of the release of Red Eye 2, a revolutionary contact lens that can record data and resurface buried memories, Margo, a Metis researcher in the Department of Memory discovers Red Eye’s head programmer murdered. Margo teams up with Thomas, a police detective running from his past, to uncover what happened to her friend and explore just how deep the revolutionary rabbit hole goes…
Reviews:
“Parallel Minds was an alright experience featuring a light sense of mystery and a neat usage of technology. I found the concept to be unique, yet at the same time, it fell into some similar tropes that did make elements come across as slightly generic. It had some solid performances to it, with Pirie standing out within this one.” Gamer Headquarters
“The tech-y stuff makes for good aesthetics here. But where it falls apart is the startup world that’s supposedly behind it. Thomas eventually gets to try the memory bank technology that Margo was working on. This is great, but all it does is make him brood over some melodramatic back story.” In the Seats
“This has a lot of interesting ideas and it borrows ideas from other movies. It has a really great production design. The dialogue is very weak but it is still an interesting watch and the performances are solid from the cast. Nothing special but still watchable.” Mody98
“The story had good potential in the starting but after that, they just wasted it by the stuffing of various unwanted concepts, effects, flashbacks…” Movie Laundry
“Though the film blends solid ingredients of sci-fi and fantasy, Parallel Minds simply wants to explore too many avenues for the mix to fully gel together cohesively. While themes of the pain of indigenous peoples at the hands of residential schools are presented but never fully explored.” ScreenFish
“Hayden’s movie is essentially a by-the-numbers whodunit with few surprises and a plot that grows more boring and convoluted as time passes. Parallel Minds shows commitment to its premise, but a lack of confidence in its execution. It sets itself up well, teasing moviegoers of its potential, only to rely on genre conventions and atmospheric clichés.” Wylie Writes
Release:
Parallel Minds was made available on Digital platforms on September 1st 2020. On January 28, 2021, it was announced that genre specialist sales outfit Black Mandala has acquired a Canadian sci-fi film.
Cast and characters:
Greg Bryk … Thomas Elliot
Tommie-Amber Pirie … Margo Elson
Neil Napier … Conrad Stallman
Madison Walsh … Jade Drayton
Michelle Thrush … Elise Perrott
Wilma Pelly … Kookum
Chelsea Anne Green … Alexa (as Chelsea Green)
Olivia Duke … Young Margo
Sam Duke … Young Stallman
Stephane Legault … U.R.M.
Tom Carey … Father
Austin Siever … Lost Boy
Imajyn Cardinal … Young Kookum
Ryan Northcott … U.R.M (voice)
Shane Ghostkeeper … Policeman
Technical details:
86 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Trailer:
