NEVER HERE (2017)

Studio:       Vertical Entertainment
Director:    Camille Thoman
Writer:       Camille Thoman
Producer:  Julian Cautherley, Bronwyn Cornelius, Elizabeth Yng-Wong, Radium Cheung, Corey Moosa, Camille Thoman
Stars:     Mireille Enos, Sam Shepard, Vincent Piazza, Ana Nogueira, David Greenspan, Desmin Borges, Angelica Page, Nina Arianda, Goran Visnjic

Review Score:

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Summary:

Posing as a witness to a crime she did not actually see, an artist becomes obsessed with a mystery causing her to question her own identity.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Journalist Margaret Lockwood interviews installation artist Miranda Fall in Miranda’s apartment for a magazine cover story. Miranda discusses her exhibit premiering that evening, which is an experimental project based on surreptitious photos and personal items belonging to Arthur Anderton, a man Miranda has never met.

Arthur attends the gallery opening, where he admonishes Miranda for invading his privacy. After the event, Miranda goes back to her place to have sex with her art dealer Paul Stark, who is cheating on his bedridden wife.

Paul answers Miranda’s phone while Miranda is in the bathroom. Miranda hears Paul shouting and banging on her window. Paul explains that he witnessed a man assaulting a woman on the street below by repeatedly bashing her head on the pavement.

Paul refuses to call the police since he is not supposed to be at Miranda’s apartment. Miranda rehearses Paul’s exact description of the attacker so that she can pose as the witness. Miranda arranges for a detective to interview her the next day. Miranda questions why Paul answered her home phone in the first place, which Paul dismisses as a wrong number anyway.

Miranda is pleasantly surprised when the detective who comes to question her turns out to be Andy Williams, a boyfriend from college whom she hasn’t seen in some time. Using Paul’s details, Miranda works with a sketch artist to create an illustration of the assailant.

Miranda asks Andy to participate in her new art project titled “Bag,” which spontaneously collects items currently carried by photograph subjects. One of the items Andy turns over for his display is a gun with all of its bullets removed.

Miranda meets Paul at her regular bar The Nightingale to show him the sketch. She also chats with her usual bartender James.

Miranda is summoned to the police station to identify the attacker from a lineup. Miranda sees the victim in the hallway and discovers it is Margaret Lockwood, the woman who interviewed her on the day of the attack. Miranda does not single out anyone from the lineup, but becomes overwhelmingly intrigued by the man posing as suspect #5. Outside the station, Miranda tells Andy that she feels she knows #5 from somewhere.

When the art gallery is vandalized, everyone assumes it was Arthur Anderton acting out of anger. Miranda decides to keep the exhibit open, believing that Arthur’s presumed vandalism adds to the display’s authenticity.

Miranda is shocked when #5 visits the exhibit. She decides to follow him home and make him the subject of her next project. Miranda begins regularly stalking and photographing the man, whom she nicknames “S.”

Miranda meets Andy at The Nightingale for a drink, which begins a romantic relationship. Miranda is confused to learn that bartender James was fired after not showing up for work. Andy informs Miranda that someone confessed to the crime Paul witnessed and was arrested.

Miranda comes to suspect someone is infiltrating her apartment when twice she comes home to discover furniture seemingly rearranged and her dog behaving strangely. Miranda continues her surveillance of S, and is surprised when he leads her to The Nightingale one Friday evening.

Margaret visits Miranda to ask about the attack. To Margaret’s disappointment, Miranda admits that Paul was the actual witness. Margaret tells Miranda that Arthur Anderton is in the hospital after shooting himself.

Inside her dresser, Miranda finds the same scarf that she saw S purchasing two weeks earlier. Using a key under his mat, Miranda infiltrates S’ apartment. To get a sense of the man, Miranda washes his dishes. She also photographs herself on S’ bed and wearing his clothes.

Andy tells Miranda that the case was reopened when it was discovered that the incarcerated suspect’s confession was coerced. Andy adds that a woman went missing at The Nightingale. Miranda realizes the woman disappeared on the same night that she followed S to the bar.

Miranda shows a picture of S to Paul, who says he does not know if S is the assailant he saw. Miranda tells Paul about the scarf and rearranged furniture, and warns that the actual attacker may look for retaliation since he saw Paul’s face. Paul begrudgingly agrees to follow S with Miranda the next day, after a hospital visit for his wife.

Paul doesn’t show up to meet Miranda. Andy calls with news that Paul’s wife reported Paul missing. Believing she may be involved, police question Miranda about Paul’s disappearance. Andy reassures Miranda that outside of any evidence like a body or murder weapon being discovered, she has no need to worry.

Unsettled in her apartment, Miranda retrieves Andy’s gun from the art project. She discovers it contains two bullets and realizes it may be the murder weapon Andy warned her about.

Margaret pounds on the door demanding to see Miranda. Miranda tells Margaret about her suspicions regarding S. The two women go to S’ apartment, where Margaret acts as a lookout on the street while Miranda plants the gun in a closet.

Miranda rushes to the window when she hears Margaret scream. Miranda sees S holding Margaret on the ground exactly as Paul described the initial attack.

Miranda retrieves the gun and rushes downstairs, only to be chased back to the apartment by S. S confronts Miranda at gunpoint, revealing he is a cop as he places her under arrest.

Margaret disappears in the aftermath. While S waits for police to arrive, Paul texts Miranda to say he is ok and only needed to get away for a while. S moves to put handcuffs on Miranda. Miranda knocks S unconscious and escapes.

Miranda returns to her apartment building and has a breakdown when she finds the front door locked. Maintenance man Mr. Martinelli explains that the previously broken lock was merely replaced. He offers Miranda a new key, but she refuses to take it. Miranda walks away from her building as if dazed, finds a taxi, and asks to be taken to the airport.

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Review:

Installation artist Miranda Fall creates experimental photo projects that explore possible personalities of perfect strangers.  Miranda sees the microscope of identity examination turned in her direction however, when her life becomes consumed by an unexpected event that may be more than it seems.

Emotionally shaken after being confronted by the unwilling subject of her latest invasive exhibit, Miranda heads home with her art dealer Paul.  A night of passion turns problematic when Paul witnesses a violent assault outside Miranda’s window.  Paul isn’t supposed to be there though, so Miranda takes his place with police, pretending to be the key to a crime she did not actually see.

Working with a sketch artist to identify the assailant should be the end of it.  Except the detective who interviews Miranda turns out to be a former flame.  Two more surprises come when Miranda goes in for a lineup to discover she not only knows the victim, but she may know the attacker as well.

Connecting clues uncovers suspicious circumstances inspiring a new muse for Miranda.  Her next project involves stalking the prime suspect, who leads Miranda down a rabbit hole where lines between deception and certainty no longer have definition.

“Never Here” has the descriptive DNA for creating an intriguing psychological thriller.  However, the movie’s flavor falls far more in line with arthouse alchemy than with straight cinematic suspense.  Think indie character study instead of “Rear Window,” as this is Hitchcock by way of Sofia Coppola or Jim Jarmusch.

That distinction is important because a different understanding leads to disappointment.  The mystery in “Never Here” peels back layers on people as opposed to exposing a tangible narrative through twisty reveals.  By virtue of predominantly being a mood piece, “Never Here” can leave a pang of dissatisfaction once you arrive at the end of its exploratory journey to discover you haven’t hit a discernible destination with the story itself.

The film’s resolution is ambiguously unconcerned with fulfilling the premise’s promise.  “Never Here’s” true interest is in playing with character concepts, unleashing actors to roll around in their roles until they find faces that fit.  It’s a tasty prospect for a talented cast anxious to tackle the stagecraft challenge.  This enticement is less attractive for viewers who aren’t earning external engagement from these internal conflicts.

With her debut feature, writer/director Camille Thoman takes an exploratory journey of her own.  It’s evident Thoman has a vision for effective atmosphere, yet isn’t as consistently confident about how to achieve it.

Curious technical choices come off as confounding in their intentions as much as they come off as creative.  The camera curses itself with deliberate oddities such as sudden jerks to reposition or by framing shots with key imagery cut off.  A soundtrack composed of a persistent hish-pish of whispers is the most unsettling element, although its insidious suggestiveness overbalances a mellower overall tone.

An aim to be unconventional in its genre amalgamation takes “Never Here” off a clear course.  The screenplay seems to possess only 85% of an idea.  The missing 15%, meant to be filled in through staging as a collaborative process with the cast, never sees firm substance materialize in that space.

“Never Here” is bold about its ambition to use a frame of cerebral tension for dissecting themes of personal identity and voyeurism.  But experimenting with fragmentary fiction takes a paring knife to the movie’s mainstream appeal as a traditional thriller with a satisfying end result.  Characterizations aren’t quite charismatic enough to make the difference completely compelling, leaving a lasting impression of unfortunate frustration for a film that has admirable, if uncertainly executed, artistic intentions.

Review Score:  50

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