Fast Color (2018)

(On Cable TV, March 2020) I like a few things about Fast Color—a starring role for Gugu Mbatha-Raw, for instance, or writer-director Julia Hart’s intention to get away from traditional comic book plot devices to feature a rural matriarchal setting with unusual superpowers. It’s enough to make the film interesting to watch. On the other hand, it’s not enough to overcome a growing disappointment with the film’s threadbare worldbuilding, languid pacing, scattered effectiveness and shrug-inducing finale. While the intention to get away from familiarity works in some cases, it hurts the film in others because the familiar works. While I’ll bristle at anyone calling this a superhero film rather than a science fiction one, they do have a point: Fast Color is designed for effect first, with logical plausibility or coherence running a distant second — Little in the film makes any sense unless you accept the premise and stop wondering about it. On the other hand, it does have chances of reaching an audience that doesn’t usually find itself compelled by more traditional Science Fiction films. As with all things, opinions will vary.