The new film Entanglement is wonderfully dark
comedy. And when I say dark, I mean dark.
For example, the film opens with a surprisingly comic and light-hearted montage
of our hero Ben (Thomas Middleditch), a young man just coming off of a
particularly rough divorce, trying and failing to commit suicide in a boarder-line
slapstick fashion. The film then follows Ben’s bumpy road to recovery, as he
tries to pinpoint exactly what it is that’s missing from his life, and at what
point he lost it.
Ben thinks he finds the answer when he discovers that he
almost had an adoptive sister, but his parents had to give her up when he was
born. With the help of his supportive and offbeat neighbor (Diana Bang) he
manages to track down her adoption records and begin his quest to find his
missing almost-sibling, a quest that leads him to meeting enigmatic free spirit
Hannah (Jess Weixler).
Through Hannah, and the would-be-incestuous relationship
they begin, Ben finally starts to see his life through a new filter and opens himself
up more to the possibilities the world presents him with.
Now, before you go crying “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”, let me
assure you that Entanglement subverts this trope at every turn. Although Ben
views Hannah as the solution to his problems, we’re never really supposed to
ourselves. We don’t see Hannah through rose colored glasses, we instead see her
through the distorted viewpoint of Ben, a man suffering from severe mental
health issues. As whimsical and bright eyed as their story may be, there is
always an undercurrent of seriously handled depression to the scenes between
Hannah and Ben. The movie truly does not take any shortcuts at showing us how
hard recovery can be on a person who’s suffering, and their relationship and
scenes together reflect this perfectly.
I was honestly very surprised by how much I was affected by Entanglement.
Everything form the worldly and philosophical side of the film, exploring the
unnoticed connections of the universe and fate, to the more broad comedic notes
it hits just really got to me. And that’s saying nothing of the film’s third
act, which caught me entirely off guard.
Overall, I really loved the film. It’s small and quiet and
dark, but also funny and sweet and most of all, beautiful. This is a movie that
revels in the offbeat beauty of life, seen through the eyes of a very damaged
person, and it’s incredibly powerful to watch.
Rating: 4 out of 5
