If you’re game for inexplicable plot holes, a shoddy cliché–ridden story and mediocre acting, please go see “As Above, So Below.” Not only did this film confuse me, but it angered me with its audience–insulting exposition and unexplained subplots. When the credits rolled, I was left in stunned disbelief at the fact that a director, screenwriter and editor could be content with this final product.
The only way to aptly describe the plot of this film is to say it was ripped off from “Harry Potter” and “The Blair Witch Project.” Our protagonist is Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), a poor–woman’s Indiana Jones, who is a professor of archaeology and symbology (that fake science invented by Dan Brown in “Angels and Demons”.) Her life mission is to (and I am not joking here) find the Sorcerer’s Stone. That nefarious little plot device from the first Harry Potter film? Oh yeah, it’s back…and apparently a real thing. The stone is allegedly located in the catacombs under Paris. Joining Scarlett on this journey is her ex–lover George (Ben Feldman), seasoned explorer Papillon (Francois Civil) and Pap’s two companions. Filming the whole exploration, in shaky–camera Blair Witch–style, is Benji (Edwin Hodge).
The entire film seems confused about what genre it wants to be. For the first hour, Benji seems to be filming a thriller with historical and scientific overtones. Then, with the mysterious arrival of a group of female cultists and La Taupe (Cosme Castro), the movie sharply enters torture porn territory. Bizarre and bloody deaths ensue. And, of course, we end where we started—knowing little–to–nothing about the characters and failing to care about what backstory we do know.
An unhealthy amount of trailers preceded this film—something like eight or nine. In one of many plot–saving dialogues, Scarlett tells us that philosophers have long been enamored with the theory of “as above, so below”—that what happens outside the body mirrors what happens inside. The way I see it, the viewer saw what lies “above” with the trailers. The movie itself reveals what lies “below,” in the world of shoddy filmmaking.
