Protanopia | Average Guy Movie Review

After Luke (Anthony Carey)'s sister goes missing, he begins having dreams of a strange house. Unbeknownst to him, that house is owned by Alan Roscoe Jr. (Timothy J. Cox), passed down to him after the recent death of his father. But something about this house isn't quite right, and Alan seems to tend to it in strange and disturbing ways.

A horror movie named after a form of colour blindness - the most common form, in fact. Protanopia is an insensitivity to red light. Making it a rather ironic title, given the amount of red lighting and red visual effects that appear throughout the film. We're talking almost psychedelic levels of colour - especially red. It is the first of many mind-fucks that the movie throws at you. Either that or it's the beginning of the great mind-fuck that is this movie.

Recent events have left the two protagonists caught up in their own respective nightmares. While Luke struggles with the disappearance of his sister and some truly haunting dreams, Alan must deal with his own haunting (be it real or imagined) on top of his new role as the head of the Neighbourhood Welfare Committee - possibly the most horrifying part of the movie. Both leads deliver performances that reflect just how lost their characters truly are. Watching Alan try to deal with fellow committee member, Janice (Paula Mahler), the increasingly strange homeowner almost becomes the hero of the piece. We've all had to deal with a Karen... I mean, Janice, and Alan handles it very... well lets just say he handles it.

Truth be told, the movie feels like a descent into madness. It almost literally sweeps you up in this hellish nightmare. As we explore multiple narratives - all linked to Alan's house - we are bombarded with some striking imagery. Although, at times the visual effects can feel a little overused, maybe even annoying. What begins as rather odd, slowly becomes more and more creepy. I'll certainly never look at blueberries in the same way, ever again! Writer/director Matthew Mahler makes some bold choices in his approach, especially when it comes to the visuals. Clearly he is unafraid to challenge his audience, and I'm not just talking about their stomachs! He's certainly happy to keep us guessing too, as Protanopia raises many questions.

The problem is a lot of these questions - maybe even all of them - go unanswered. It's one thing to raise questions, even to encourage your audience to develop their own interpretations, but it's another thing entirely to leave them completely baffled. Which is, unfortunately, exactly what Protanopia does. It's as if, somewhere along the way, the striking look of the film became more important than the story. So much so that the whole thing feels incomplete, like there are pieces missing. Pieces that would actually explain what the hell is going on, and why the movie ends the way it does.

If the purpose of Protanopia is to fuck with the audience's head, then mission accomplished. But it is also haunting. Sweeping you up into this descent into madness. It's just a shame that the plot takes a bit of a back seat in the second half, leaving many unanswered questions.

5/10

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