‘Nothing hidden. Violence impossible.’
The Tangle is a 2019 American neo-noir science-fiction thriller about a murder in a supposedly technology safe room.
Written, directed by and co-starring Christopher Soren Kelly (actor in Infinity Chamber; Ink) – making his feature directorial debut – the movie also stars Joshua Bitton, Jessica Graham, Nicole da Silva and Anil Kumar.
Plot:
A secret government agency called the A.S.P. (Army of Simply Purity) watches over the Tangle from within technology safe rooms, locations impermeable to the nanobots that make up the Tangle. When the A.S.P. field agent Margot Foster is murdered in one of these rooms, an abandoned speakeasy, it’s the first murder in California in three years.
The main suspect is Carter Carmine, a private detective, who used to work with the agents of A.S.P. on a program called the Cleopatra Squad. Cleopatra created the Tangle. Married A.S.P. agents Edward Banderas and Laurel Arrow have brought Carter to one of the safe rooms after surgically removing his S.O.L. from his brain.
Carter was following Margot just before her murder. He has a motive, and he is one of the few in the world with the technical expertise to hide from the Tangle. The agents use the Tangle information to badger Carter: they know his movements down to the millimetre, down to the millisecond. He is clearly hiding something.
Eventually, everybody is a suspect and every secret gets exposed: a conspiracy between Margot and Edward to curtail Cleopatra’s power over the Tangle, Edward, the man of duty, caught having an affair, the hidden connection between Laurel and Carter, the real identity of Cleopatra and, finally, the real explanation for Margot’s murder.
Eventually, the agents must rush into the world scrounging through obsolete technology to solve the murder and stop the collapse of the Tangle, the world as they know it…
Release date:
In the USA, Damn Warrior Productions in Association with SitkaBlu Productions will release The Tangle On-Demand on March 19th 2021.
Reviews:
“The costume design is fun and adds to the film noir vibe — it seems that 1940s and 1950s fashion are all the rage again at some point in the future of Los Angeles. The performances are solid and the puzzle pieces mostly fall into place by the climax. Fans of cyberpunk, murder mysteries and tech-talk science fiction should find plenty to enjoy in The Tangle.” Ghastly Grinning
“Where technology has allowed – forced even – most people to live in a fantasy Xanadu, here we are confined almost entirely to that world’s shabby back offices, and shown the mindsets of those who create and control its workings – its largely unwatched watchmen and -women. This offers a slippery perspective on our future as all at once utopian and dystopian, paradisiac and paranoid, in what is a wonderfully stylised cyberpunk investigation into the all-too-human ghosts haunting our machines.” Projected Figures
“This is one of those films that could only exist as an independent, free from the constraints of a room full of unimaginative people. A movie with the intelligence and creativity to imagine a world reshaped by a new technology — and yet find lyrical beauty in the most prosaic of settings.” Rivets on the Poster
“The Tangle is worth the effort and attention it requires though […] Don’t expect much action, do expect a lot of dialogue delivered by a talented cast. Do expect to pay close attention to that dialogue. If that sounds like something you’re up for then you can expect to enjoy The Tangle.” Voices from the Balcony
“A classic love triangle, murder mystery and interrogation with retro sayings in too cool dialogue delivered in noir form are set in a futuristic world and a sci-fi story leaves audiences trying to connect everything to a reality they can understand, get enthralled with the mystery and its ultimate untangling.” Without Your Head
Cast and characters:
Joshua Bitton … Carter
Christopher Soren Kelly … Edward
Jessica Graham … Laurel
Nicole da Silva … Francesca
Anil Kumar … Avatar
Mary Jane Wells … Margot
Bel Deliá … Cleo
Kevin Oestenstad … Frank’s Robotaxi
Technical details:
99 minutes
Trailer:
