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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Art of Perception" )

 

directed by Kate Rees Davies
USA 2017

 

An inquiry into a murder that happened during the testing of the drug intended to alter perceptions ("legalized 'shrooms) reveals some serious concerns about testing on three couples with histories of domestic conflict on which the drug was bound increase preexisting hostility. Attorney Andrew (CASTLE's Jon Huertas) and his wife Lorie (Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, THE DIVIDE) have issues with her past as a prostitute - with each adamant that the other is the one with the problem - while gay couple Claudia (Aileen Burdock) and Beth (Nichola Fynn) have trust issues over whether Beth slept with or was raped by Claudia's brother Matthew (Matthew Ziff), and the suspicions and jealousy of Kristina (Jade Tailor) are driving her producer husband Steven (Emrhys Cooper) towards cheating on or leaving her. After injections of varying doses, with one receiving a placebo, the couples are sent home to record video diaries of their progress. As the panel raises ethical issues about informed consent and as to whether the study took into account undiagnosed conditions, the doctors insist that the videos demonstrate why they did not stop the test as some of the test subjects become physically aggressive and others more paranoid, and one is pushed towards murder. Opening and closing with lengthy quotations from a Forbes article about the ethics of pharmaceutical testing, ALTERED PERCEPTIONS - written by WHITE COLLAR creator Travis Romero, actress Blanc-Biehn, and actor Huertas - is not so much a found footage horror film or thriller as a sort of muddled cautionary tale that is most successful during the video diary segments and less so during the panels in which both the scientists seem negligently incompetent and the bloviating panel members sound like conspiracy theorists. The moodswings of the couples do keep the viewer off balance and the film ultimately does ratchet up the suspense as we wonder who received the placebo and which one will turn into a killer. Performances can be uneven but the cast is interesting in its giving a center stage opportunity for actors who either are still paying their dues in episodic television and the more seasoned performers fashioning their own vehicle for exposure.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 4 May 2018 (USA)

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DVD Review: Cinedigm - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

Cinedigm

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime 1:18:57
Video

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.48 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Cinedigm

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
� Trailers for 'Followers' and 'Writers Retreat'

DVD Release Date: 5 June 2018
Amaray

Chapters 12

 

Comments

Cinedigm provides a problem-free single-layer encode of this economically-shot HD production with a clean stereo soundtrack and optional English SDH subtitles which have some inconsistencies but get the job done. The only extras are trailers for two other films.

  - Eric Cotenas

 


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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

Distribution

Cinedigm

Region 1 - NTSC

 




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