Meander (2020)

(On Cable TV, November 2021) It’s a cheap shot to say that Meander’s biggest problem is that it… meanders. But it’s not untrue. Trailers of this film quickly position it as “Cube in a Tube” (not my original expression) and that’s indeed what’s most interesting about the result: a woman stuck in a small passageway, where every step feels like a new videogame puzzle to figure out: blades, flames, and acid. As far as minimalistic filmmaking goes, those segments are not bad at all — claustrophobic, visually distinct, carrying suspense and mystery. The problem, of course, is everything surrounding those segments, from an opening segment that doesn’t add much to a half-hearted alien ending that both explains too much and not enough. Like many high-concept films that are driven primarily by audio-visual set-pieces rather than plot, you can feel Meander meander as it attempts to justify its own existence from a storytelling perspective. That’s maybe not as much of a problem when it’s done perfunctorily (as in Cube, indeed), but when significant time is given to justifications that end up weakening the film, it feels like a self-imposed foul. Writer-director Mathieu Turi doesn’t feel as if he has a point to make, so don’t be surprised if your attention starts to wander the more the film tries to explain itself. If you do focus on the set-pieces, however, Meander is more focused: the action moments are tightly shot, and the cinematography does wonders in a tight enclosed space. It flirts with intriguing parallels with videogaming conventions but ultimately stops exploring that idea just when it was becoming interesting. Other hints about purgatory, redemption and aliens are left around in almost a perfunctory manner, going to some lazy explanations being pieced together. (Or maybe the haze is intentional because the most obvious answers are disappointing in their familiarity.)  All in all, though — Meander is a disappointment that suffers from its lack of focus. Or, to beat a dead joke into the ground, because it meanders.