I gave it a 5 but easily could have been a 3. Plot is just too convoluted and pace too slow. I don't see how anyone rated this highly. Acting was fine minus the main character young black dude. He was totally wooden to me. But just boring and bouncing all over the place. Had potential tho.
38 Reviews
This Was Exhausting...
talentest2 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Convoluted, meandering, and tedious to say the least. If not for the movie description used on here and TUBI I'd have no clue that the underlying plot was about reincarnation as it is NEVER stated nor clarified in the film. It is only ever alluded to, then explained to characters offscreen, before returning to them astonished having fully accepted everything. Seriously, every single character with any awareness of the "Next Life" (reincarnation tracking) program handles it with the same vagueness/offscreen acceptance.
The meandering comes in the poor way the film is paced. The first and third acts follow a 21 year old girl (named Lola) who discovers (I assume) she is the (alluded to) reincarnated spirit/soul/electromagnetic energy/cosmic transference of a murdered black teenage boy (named Robbie) - whose flashback story is told in the hour long second act with its own 3-act structure.
How things happen and why things happen are never explored, only ever alluded to with ominous pronouncements of "they", "other side", "when the time comes", "it's her", "she knows" nonsense. Included within these nebulous allusions is the dots to connect an implied surprise reveal towards the end: that Lola is the daughter of the guy who murdered her past self (as Robbie) who was conceived from raping her mother. We are only to assume that maybe the timing of Robbie's death somehow coincides 9 months after the rape on the day Lola was born.
This kind of storytelling is just tedious when every aspect of everything is unspooled in this very same way.
More GRIPES:
A Black man arrested for killing an armed intruder in his own home after being attacked. Then he is interrogated as if he conspired as some part of it (his own attempted murder).
A teenage girl enters the home of a known murderer, unarmed with no plan, and tells him she is going to kill him.
After having been stabbed by said murderer and knocked unconscious for a spell, she screams upon waking up, which her mother (downstairs at the front door) does not hear for some reason.
The murderer was released after 20 years for good behavior - convicted of killing a kid, despite also being linked to an armed bank robbery where his partner is killed, an armed home invasion where his partner is killed, an attempted murder of the kid's father and even stealing his truck - and that's not to mention his father is also missing (because he killed him too). Yet he mentions that the Next Life program recruited people like him from being on Death Row.
The meandering comes in the poor way the film is paced. The first and third acts follow a 21 year old girl (named Lola) who discovers (I assume) she is the (alluded to) reincarnated spirit/soul/electromagnetic energy/cosmic transference of a murdered black teenage boy (named Robbie) - whose flashback story is told in the hour long second act with its own 3-act structure.
How things happen and why things happen are never explored, only ever alluded to with ominous pronouncements of "they", "other side", "when the time comes", "it's her", "she knows" nonsense. Included within these nebulous allusions is the dots to connect an implied surprise reveal towards the end: that Lola is the daughter of the guy who murdered her past self (as Robbie) who was conceived from raping her mother. We are only to assume that maybe the timing of Robbie's death somehow coincides 9 months after the rape on the day Lola was born.
This kind of storytelling is just tedious when every aspect of everything is unspooled in this very same way.
More GRIPES:
A Black man arrested for killing an armed intruder in his own home after being attacked. Then he is interrogated as if he conspired as some part of it (his own attempted murder).
A teenage girl enters the home of a known murderer, unarmed with no plan, and tells him she is going to kill him.
After having been stabbed by said murderer and knocked unconscious for a spell, she screams upon waking up, which her mother (downstairs at the front door) does not hear for some reason.
The murderer was released after 20 years for good behavior - convicted of killing a kid, despite also being linked to an armed bank robbery where his partner is killed, an armed home invasion where his partner is killed, an attempted murder of the kid's father and even stealing his truck - and that's not to mention his father is also missing (because he killed him too). Yet he mentions that the Next Life program recruited people like him from being on Death Row.
Very Close To Being A Great Story.., But..,
afloridason2 August 2021
The outline of the story is great. However, they add too much filler in the beginning, as they try to explain the climax. 50% of the first 3/4 of the story could be taken out, and that time used in the end, and this could have gotten more stars. If you're okay with a slow movie that has a good ending, then you may enjoy this.
Interesting Concept
betchaareoffendedeasily5 August 2021
It is a rare movie that attempts to do something different, but this one tries, it really does. The execution is a bit muddled sadly, the script really needed to be tightened up, and while I got the gist of it, it got a bit too convoluted for it's own good by the end. I can understand why some hated this movie, though I don't feel hate is at all justified because outside of the convoluted somewhat muddled script, it is a good sci-fi endeavor. I would call it a solid B sci-fi movie, which I do not use B movie as a pejorative as a some do, I think there is a place for low-budget and/or B movies.
I also felt the script spent too much time trying to hide the main thrust of the film, there are some twist, but the main thrust of the story is given away in the title, so I don't understand why they spend so much time attempting to conceal it. This is why the script gets a bit convoluted and muddled, because of it's attempted concealment of the main thread of the story. The movie is set in the late 1990's, but it never really uses that setting, one of the character's glasses would NEVER have been worn in the 1990's, I know because I grew up then. This style came back into fashion much later. The clothes also do not look like 1990's clothes, nor do the hair styles. The cars seem to mostly because from that era or earlier, but it just doesn't do a good job of looking like the late 1990's.
On the positive side, most of the acting is good(outside of the opening seen where the acting was pretty bad), the characters are decent, it takes time to build them up a bit and flesh them out, I really enjoyed that aspect, and it was interesting to see what happened to each character. Even though the female lead is basically an Antifa-like rioter(she throws Molotov cocktails, that crosses the into into rioting, and even says "say his name" late in the movie), and isn't the nicest person, I still liked her, crazy I know, as real-life Antifa rioters are some pretty vile nasty people. This movie is truly a tragedy, there is no happy ending, and the movie is filled with misery at every turn. From dead parents, to abusive parents, to rape, this movie is really about cycles of abuse and hatred. I have watched several movies with this theme, another, significantly less well-made film about a similar topic was "It Knows", and I would rank this much higher, "One and the Same" is a good movie, with a good concept, but because of it's attempts to conceal it's main plot point for so long, it will confuse a lot of people, and needlessly so.
I also felt the script spent too much time trying to hide the main thrust of the film, there are some twist, but the main thrust of the story is given away in the title, so I don't understand why they spend so much time attempting to conceal it. This is why the script gets a bit convoluted and muddled, because of it's attempted concealment of the main thread of the story. The movie is set in the late 1990's, but it never really uses that setting, one of the character's glasses would NEVER have been worn in the 1990's, I know because I grew up then. This style came back into fashion much later. The clothes also do not look like 1990's clothes, nor do the hair styles. The cars seem to mostly because from that era or earlier, but it just doesn't do a good job of looking like the late 1990's.
On the positive side, most of the acting is good(outside of the opening seen where the acting was pretty bad), the characters are decent, it takes time to build them up a bit and flesh them out, I really enjoyed that aspect, and it was interesting to see what happened to each character. Even though the female lead is basically an Antifa-like rioter(she throws Molotov cocktails, that crosses the into into rioting, and even says "say his name" late in the movie), and isn't the nicest person, I still liked her, crazy I know, as real-life Antifa rioters are some pretty vile nasty people. This movie is truly a tragedy, there is no happy ending, and the movie is filled with misery at every turn. From dead parents, to abusive parents, to rape, this movie is really about cycles of abuse and hatred. I have watched several movies with this theme, another, significantly less well-made film about a similar topic was "It Knows", and I would rank this much higher, "One and the Same" is a good movie, with a good concept, but because of it's attempts to conceal it's main plot point for so long, it will confuse a lot of people, and needlessly so.
It's a Matter of Relativity
OmStarsong20 September 2022
Because only someone related to those involved with this mess would rate it so highly.. 🙄
Except for Plummer the rest need a lot more experience in acting.. The mom especially was tough to take.. Over wrought and way over played..
Some of the crap acting is on the script and some on the directing.. Shades of Dead Again, but very diluted shades.. The seeds were there and I'm all for exploring past life connections, but this was all over the place and just poorly executed in every way.. Maybe the writer and director were in constant conflict because one was channeled from a past/alternate life, but they just never managed to work it out.. Too bad.. None of the characters were likable and with nobody to root for it's hard to be invested emotionally or curiously.. Its all pretty much sub conscious id manifesting thru emotional reaction with no sense of logic or self reflection.. In any case 5 is being generous only because I want to root for anything dealing with consciousness.. Go watch Dead Again or The Reincarnation of Peter Proud or even better What Dreams May Come.. Now that was brilliance of depth on a similar subject matter..! Cheers.
Nop, not good, not for sci fi fans
opticuscro28 July 2022
Appalling
maynewheeler-c23 November 2021
Don't waste your precious time on this. The worst ham acting you will ever see. Comes over as a TV film. Bad script terrible acting. Why are all the girls speaking in a croaking irritating voice?
It's nearly two hours of my life I will never get back.
It's nearly two hours of my life I will never get back.
A valiant attempt at creating something original. It wasn't great but I can't stop thinking about it's complexity??
Khaugh1024 May 2021
Very interesting concept that was vaguely explored, resulting in a poor execution, but the story still kept my interest. This concept is hard to thoroughly explore because you have to be able to coherently piece it all together at the end with a central idea. It is a valiant attempt at trying to venture new concepts.
I don't want to write a long winded review but this movie had a lot going on and still manage to be an intriguing watch. In general, I'm kind of picky about choosing anything with drama because I hate seeing stupid people make stupid decisions and wallow in pity because they cause of self inflicted pain. That trope is still prevalent in this movie, but not entirely unrealistic. I think it was overly ambitious that couldn't fulfill all the aspects of the story, but still a commendable attempt.
Now to the nitty gritty about why this film has a great basis but fails to deliver. Scientifically, energy transference makes complete sense and can hold up well for the most part, but the main problem is they barely scratch the surface of information. In order to understand this concept to the fullest the explanation needs to be fleshed out to make a cohesive story about how this energy flows in life, whether it follows a pattern or not. Without that explanation, most of the actions throughout seem too coincidental, and come off as lazy writing. The idea of energy coming back and being identified through humans electromagnetic field is a good concept to explore and can serve as a logical reason as to why we encounter certain people throughout our lifetime. It seemed like they would make this a mind blowing experience, but the company that specializes in this area, in the film, could offer little to no answers and had minimal involvement in assisting the story line other than saying a supernatural phenomenon is happening.
In terms of the script and acting I was pretty lenient considering these were all unknown actors and tbh they did an alright job. They showed some corny moments but also some glimmers of impactful and emotional acting. I will say in some moments the script didn't help them. Some of the dialogue was corny no doubt. But then you would hear some interactions that sounded corny, but were very realistic to real conversations and the writing almost felt socially self aware of how conversations actually would go. However, neither of these properties overwhelming hurt or helped the project enough to have a definitive position in likability.
The character development is so far left weird it's hard to understand what they're going for. The main girl is an angsty civil activist/protestor who is a straight up bitch most of the time, yet there were definitely moments that I liked her, but for no reason at all really. Granted once you find out more info towards the end I guess it is plausible to have these 2 contrasting personalities based on their reasoning, but still, they kinda just throw stuff at you and just want you to take it as so.
Now the antagonist.. whew boy.. he'll make your blood boil from start to finish and for what reason? I really don't know but he does the job he needs to by making you loathe him. I do wish there was more introspective work or development on his character specifically, but I'm not upset because I get the gist. Aside from the 2 main leads, I actually enjoyed every character on screen. Some were quirky, some witty, and mostly endearing. They were also partially irrelevant and were present more so for emotional impact which still hits in some aspects.
Even as I list out the Pros and Cons for this this movie I still feel mixed about how I feel. On one hand this is an admirable effort and on the other it is a poorly executed idea that bit off more than it can chew. A part of me wants to give it a 7 stars and the other part wants me to give it a 5 stars. Regardless, this movie will probably reside in my thoughts way longer than I was expecting to, so I guess at least it's thought provoking???
I don't want to write a long winded review but this movie had a lot going on and still manage to be an intriguing watch. In general, I'm kind of picky about choosing anything with drama because I hate seeing stupid people make stupid decisions and wallow in pity because they cause of self inflicted pain. That trope is still prevalent in this movie, but not entirely unrealistic. I think it was overly ambitious that couldn't fulfill all the aspects of the story, but still a commendable attempt.
Now to the nitty gritty about why this film has a great basis but fails to deliver. Scientifically, energy transference makes complete sense and can hold up well for the most part, but the main problem is they barely scratch the surface of information. In order to understand this concept to the fullest the explanation needs to be fleshed out to make a cohesive story about how this energy flows in life, whether it follows a pattern or not. Without that explanation, most of the actions throughout seem too coincidental, and come off as lazy writing. The idea of energy coming back and being identified through humans electromagnetic field is a good concept to explore and can serve as a logical reason as to why we encounter certain people throughout our lifetime. It seemed like they would make this a mind blowing experience, but the company that specializes in this area, in the film, could offer little to no answers and had minimal involvement in assisting the story line other than saying a supernatural phenomenon is happening.
In terms of the script and acting I was pretty lenient considering these were all unknown actors and tbh they did an alright job. They showed some corny moments but also some glimmers of impactful and emotional acting. I will say in some moments the script didn't help them. Some of the dialogue was corny no doubt. But then you would hear some interactions that sounded corny, but were very realistic to real conversations and the writing almost felt socially self aware of how conversations actually would go. However, neither of these properties overwhelming hurt or helped the project enough to have a definitive position in likability.
The character development is so far left weird it's hard to understand what they're going for. The main girl is an angsty civil activist/protestor who is a straight up bitch most of the time, yet there were definitely moments that I liked her, but for no reason at all really. Granted once you find out more info towards the end I guess it is plausible to have these 2 contrasting personalities based on their reasoning, but still, they kinda just throw stuff at you and just want you to take it as so.
Now the antagonist.. whew boy.. he'll make your blood boil from start to finish and for what reason? I really don't know but he does the job he needs to by making you loathe him. I do wish there was more introspective work or development on his character specifically, but I'm not upset because I get the gist. Aside from the 2 main leads, I actually enjoyed every character on screen. Some were quirky, some witty, and mostly endearing. They were also partially irrelevant and were present more so for emotional impact which still hits in some aspects.
Even as I list out the Pros and Cons for this this movie I still feel mixed about how I feel. On one hand this is an admirable effort and on the other it is a poorly executed idea that bit off more than it can chew. A part of me wants to give it a 7 stars and the other part wants me to give it a 5 stars. Regardless, this movie will probably reside in my thoughts way longer than I was expecting to, so I guess at least it's thought provoking???
Supporting Indie movies
likejohn24 March 2021
could have been a '9' but...
theskyrider4 August 2021
I found the anachronisms quite amusing. Given that, I think that the cinematography was a bit lacking.
I liked the story and the premise, akin to 'Brainstorm' but they missed one central thing...the scanning...what was it for?
Of course, the story was great, but the execution, that was middling. If they would have used the scans just a bit more, they would have gotten a '9' but I'll have to stick to a '7' for good effort.
-J-
I liked the story and the premise, akin to 'Brainstorm' but they missed one central thing...the scanning...what was it for?
Of course, the story was great, but the execution, that was middling. If they would have used the scans just a bit more, they would have gotten a '9' but I'll have to stick to a '7' for good effort.
-J-
A good movie..
theonlycake24 March 2021
It's not a Hollywood blockbuster but it was a good movie. Kind of hard to follow at first but after it all evolved it all made sense in the end. Very suspenseful and action packed held me in there for a while. White, Plummer, Day, and Fling seemed to be the seasoned actors of the film but truly all of the cast did a great job. The postproduction was very established as well.
Great indie film
auracg28 March 2021
If you love sci-fi, action, suspense, drama, twists and turns, and a little comedic relief thrown in, you will enjoy this movie! Great story, its a refreshing change from all the remakes and sequels common in current Hollywood movies. Loved the special effects in the intro, loved the father son dynamic and chemistry between the main characters. Would definitely recommend this movie!
Thought Provoking
scgfckzb23 March 2021
Substance and originality
LoraKos25 March 2021
This was an interesting film, I enjoyed the story and it's originality. I had to watch it a second time after the big ending reveal, and it was a different experience. This is one of those films that could easily be a cult classic, you'll either love it or you'll hate it, it will make you feel things.
Art imitating life!
JackSam2524 March 2021
There's a lot to be said about this film, but the storytelling is genius. Here's the thing, it's not a multimillion dollar budget film, it is a low budget indie film, and by indie film I mean Indie not backed by Hollywood. Therefore, people who are tearing it down because it's not a marvel film are insane.
I watched this film twice, and every time I'm left in deep thought. The subtle portrayal of relationships and the complexities of their affects on the characters is beautifully executed. Great job and best of luck to everyone in this film.
I watched this film twice, and every time I'm left in deep thought. The subtle portrayal of relationships and the complexities of their affects on the characters is beautifully executed. Great job and best of luck to everyone in this film.
highly recomended
brynn-7644023 March 2021
Great film!
ctrav24724 March 2021
Great indie film
kasson-6426123 March 2021
This film has an interesting mix of drama, action, and unique sci-fi elements that I haven't seen done in a film before. The unexpected sci-fi aspects really allowed the movie to venture into some novel story-telling ideas and twists. Some great acting from this ensemble cast, especially the chemistry between Glenn Plummer and Acoryé White. Support indie filmmakers so more art like this can be created!
Refreshing and Original
lada-3762923 March 2021
Creative
cbTedb28 March 2021
An honest depiction of life, specifically for groups of people who's experience and reality is often not authentically represented in the main stream media. This movie is more of an old school sci-fi, less CGI and more imaginative storytelling which covers very real and relevant issues such as abuse, rape, violence, hate crimes, broken homes, and unethical infringement of privacy. Intelligent, subtle and clever plot.
Great for an Indie
lowp-8404124 March 2021
Relevant and Relatable
dbsrmybxz23 March 2021
A great indie production with a powerful message about the vicious cycle of hate and the danger it poses to our society and our future. The film is very relevant and at times uncomfortable truths are revealed about our societal norms and problems. What are we doing? Do we learn from our mistakes? Are we doomed to be in this infinite loop of pain, envy, and revenge? I appreciate a film that leaves me with deeper thoughts about the human experience and what truly matters. The bond between Robbie and his father Arthur, was a beautiful depiction of unconditional love and perseverance. Great character development and well executed contrast.
Smart and ballsy
danijakes24 March 2021
Original Story, kept my interest high.
sampsam24 March 2021
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