Director – Matthew Mahler (What Jack Built, Vault)
Starring – Timothy J. Cox (Creatures of Habit, Friends Forever), Anthony Carey (The Scream of Silence), and Paula Mahler (Dark Romance)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 2/5
I’ve been fortunate enough to review some wild indie titles over the years here at Horror Society. I get asked to review a lot of films and some are memorable while others are just not for me. I hate to be negative but I can’t like them all and I refuse to lie or be dishonest in my reviews.
A few weeks ago I was asked to review the indie horror film Protanopia. I knew absolutely nothing about this one but the title did peak my interest. I had no idea what it meant at the time which made my mind work overtime thinking about what I was about to see. I want to thank actor Timothy J. Cox for sending this one over for review. I truly appreciate it!
**Spoiler alert** The film follows a young man who suspects his step-sister is missing. He files a missing person report but the police tell him that typically this sort of thing sorts itself out. In the town over, a man has just inherited his father’s home after his passing and took over as president on the council. The other board members want to search his property and the surrounding area but he declines to let them out of fear something may happen. That night he has a dream about his father and when he awakens he starts to suspect that something strange is going on with his home. While he is becoming obsessed with his home, the step-brother is starting to receive visits from someone instructing him to write his next novel. Eventually, everything is connected and revealed to the two.**Spoiler Alert**
When I started writing this review for Protanopia I learned that it is the name for those that have red/green colorblindness. Honestly, I have no idea how that really played into the story itself but it does somewhat fit considering how heaving on the colors the lighting was. I went into this one kind of excited and was quickly ready for it to end. It’s not a bad movie per sei but it wasn’t for me.
The acting in this one is solid with Timothy J. Cox doing most of the heavy lifting. I’m not just saying that because he sent this one over for review. I’m saying it because his performance is head and shoulders above the rest which is truly saying something considering everyone does a a solid job. The characters are not all written equally with some having more time spent on their development. This doesn’t give everyone a lot to work with but the performances we do have are decent.
The story for this one is simple with an experimental/arthouse vibe to it. A missing woman, a man seeing ghosts, and a stranger telling a writer to write is about the extent of this one. We have a lot of bloated scenes that do very little to progress the story along and the beautiful lighting and cinematography is meant to enhance the film but is unable to truly do so due to the stale story.
Finally, the film doesn’t have any memorable deaths and or practical effects. It relies heavily on the on the lighting to do all the work which it is beautiful to look at but genre fans want to see the red stuff. Overall, Protanopia is not for me. The story didn’t go anywhere and it didn’t have anything to really hold the viewer’s attention. I did like the cast but that is the extent of it for me.
