The Reality Experiment

What is reality? Is it merely what we can see, hear, touch, or even feel? What if what we perceive as reality is simply some kind of projection, something our brain plays back to us to try and give this world of countless particles sense and shape? What if we're all simply just imagining reality, together?

These are some pretty deep, existential questions to jump straight in with, but these are the ideas at the core of The Reality Experiment, the utterly brilliant indie feature from filmmaker Jake Trevaskis that seamlessly blends mind-bending scientific concepts with exceptional cinema.

Led by neuroscience student Jeremy (Kay-Smith), a rather varied bunch of test subjects have gathered at an isolated location to test Jeremy's theory: that reality is just a consciousness shared between us all, one we can disconnect from. The first stage requires Jeremy to build a collection of in-depth profiles on each of them, a fun, inspired way for Trevaskis to show off his extremely talented and well-rounded cast.

Firstly, we have Jeremy (Kay-Smith), the enigmatic central figure running the experiment. For his subjects, we have Paul (Gadaleta), the unassuming yet caring family man; Kathryn (Blue), the glamorous grad student; Dean (Thomas) the naive alcoholic, Nick (Protich), the cocky know-it-all; Miles (Gordon), the thinker of the group; Ruth (Oakes and Nzigamasabo), the horror film aficionado, and Kelly (Hendricks), who actually doesn’t seem to know what she's about, leaving her as a bit of a puzzle to work out.

Each one is as unique and interesting as the next, and it allows the film's opening half-hour to bounce along effortlessly, leading us nicely into part two of the experiment. Jeremy's method is to target a very specific part of the brain with a slight shock, one that the group must administer to themselves simultaneously to ensure they all "go together". Despite some protests, the promise of two hundred dollars for only a couple of hours of their time eventually leads the group to think, "what the hell"?

After a bright flash, the changes, though initially subtle, start to be noticed. Kelly's phone is now the latest model; others now bear different clothing, even if they can't all agree on what it was before. However, elation at the success of the experiment is short-lived; the group slowly begins to discover more substantial changes. Wishing to put things right, they go again, but playing God always has consequences, and the deeper they dig, the more serious and fatal those consequences get.

Much more would be getting into real spoiler territory, but suffice it to say, from here, it's seriously gripping stuff. Trevaskis is great at keeping the science exposition to just the right level, making sure we're always well informed but never at the expense of the fun. Just when you think you can relax, each reality blast brings you straight back to the edge of your seat for whatever craziness awaits in another one of Trevaskis's bizarre but brilliant ideas for the gifted cast to play out.

It's non-stop tension, even when the film passes the baton halfway through from Jeremy to Kelly, the film just effortlessly marches us on in a new exciting direction, dragging us along (willingly) for the ride. And what just might be the most impressive thing is how Trevaskis and his team achieve so very much with so very little. With only a handful of sparse locations, a few chairs, and some balls taped on sticks, the unbound creativity within those limitations, both technically and in storytelling, means The Reality Experiment is a fully realised, fleshed-out joy to watch from start to finish.

A nail-biting blast from the first minute to the last, The Reality Experiment, is in every reality, a triumph.