The creative process isn't always easy. For a young filmmaker and the star of All Alone Together, the process is a downright nightmare. It leads to a break in his sanity after mounting pressure to get his horror film out there. This feature is a clever and at times frightening exploration of how challenging courting the muse can be.
Directed by Maximus Jenkins, the feature stars Alex Nimrod, who also penned the script, as Lincoln Arreto. Lincoln just may have a hit on his hands, a buzzy horror film that makes its rounds on the festival circuit. In fact, about the first 10-15 minutes of the feature includes Lincoln's film, until it cuts to the conclusion of its festival premiere and the audience's applause. This is the first hint that this film will frequently blur reality with fiction and that Lincoln's horror film bleeds into his life more and more.
All Alone Together has plenty of unnerving scenes in it, especially in the last act, when Lincoln winds up in the hospital and he's tormented by freakish and demented versions of people that he knows in his day-to-day life. By the end credits, the character utterly snaps. However, there's a lot of interesting stuff that happens prior to that point.
This indie feature is very much about the process of filmmaking itself and the various pressures that Lincoln feels. For instance, it strains his relationship with his roommate George (Trevor VanAuken). The two grow distant the more time that Lincoln puts into his work and promoting his film. Further, George's girlfriend, Regina (Lexi Minetree), gripes that Lincoln named the worst character in his film after her mother.
There's also a great scene in which Lincoln goes on a talk show and demands that the host, Serenity (Janina Colucci), refer to his work as a film, not a movie. In the end, he totally blows the free PR. This sequence is amusing at times and also unsettling. Additionally, it shows how much this young filmmaker wants to be taken seriously and that he considers his work to be art, not a popcorn movie, not that there's anything wrong with more light-hearted entertainment, but that's not what Lincoln creates.
The drama and the strained relationships in this film are handled really well, along with the presentation of the creative process itself. Nimrod turns in a strong performance as an upcoming filmmaker and also a man on the cusp of losing his mind. He gives it his all and leans into the deterioration of his character's sanity. The film is also well-paced, saving its most horror-fueled moments for the last 30 minutes. It's worth the wait.
All Alone Together is a strong indie horror feature that balances human drama with the scares. It's also a chilling examination of the creative process and the costs of following the muse too deeply. I'm eager to see what this group does next.
All Alone Together arrives on VOD platforms on July 7.