Flashback

After successfully navigating his way through the Maze Runner series, Dylan O'Brien stars in this more experimental labyrinthine movie, which pitches itself tonally between early Christopher Nolan (Memento) and Rian Johnson (Brick). A young professional with a loving partner, Fred is thrown into a psychological tailspin after his mother suffers an aneurysm. While her memory fades, Fred experiences choppy flashbacks to high school involving a novel drug called Mercury and a mysterious girl named Cindy (Maika Monroe). As the tug of the past unpicks Fred's grip on the present, the film mixes murky sounds, head-trip visuals and recurring, dream-like symbols to immerse us in a splintering mindset. Emotional clarity and purpose get a little lost in the mix, but writer/director Christopher MacBride is unafraid to play with ideas, efficiently exploring themes of choice and possibility. And he draws fine work from O'Brien, who provides a subtle, steadying centre as the plotting frays.