CFF60 review - BRAND NEW-U by Simon Pummell

Dopplegangers, identity crisis and paranoia. SIMON PUMMELL's ambitious BRAND NEW-U looks remarkable and creates an intense and immersive atmosphere thanks to some great effects, despite the limited budget, but is also enriched due to its interactive nature. The film had its Irish premiere at the 60th CORK FILM FESTIVAL.

Identity crisis and paranoia is something that is being prominently examined in the science fiction drama. While there is no doubt about that identity crisis is somewhat synonymous with today's generation, it is also undoubtable that it was as true of the past, as for instance THE DOUBLE by DOSTOEVSKY clearly shows. 

Similarly, BRAND NEW U by SIMON PUMMELL is just as interested in the concept of dopplegangers. It is also very interesting that he should choose to examine this element in within the context of a futuristic world. Science fiction as of late, in recent films such as HER by SPIKE JONZE or THE LOBSTER by YORGOS LANTHIMOS has also narrowed down these themes of social and moral paranoia by using the starting point of relationship, and particularly the impending sense of doom that arises out of the end of a romance. 

In BRAND NEW U, the leading male character is flustered and desperately disoriented when mysterious troops threaten to frame him with the murder of his girlfriend, whom they have kidnapped and replaced with a dead doppleganger. The storyline becomes more and more tortuous after he is convinced by this mysterious organization that the only way to stay out of trouble is to ultimately literally start anew, and forget his girlfriend by living a new life and leaving everything from the past life behind. The fact that he is unable to do so leads him to troubled waters, as does his constant inability to forget his former sweetheart.

BRAND NEW U is ambitious for the sheer fact that with a very limited budget, it is able to build a credible futuristic world that looks quite spectacular via great use of special effects, which nevertheless are not used to an obnoxious excess. 

PUMMELL's film is also defined by the pacing, which is quite slow and purposely frustrating, often remaining on the subjects more than the average similar sci-fi would cut to the next sequence. Furthermore, it leaves many grey areas in the storyline itself, which allows for a greater viewer interaction that again sets BRAND NEW U aside from the average film of the kind. It is a purposeful choice that also, in turn, leads down a road of interaction with the viewer and an immersive atmosphere. 

LACHLAN NIEBOER as the leading male delivers an interesting performance, and his charisma is particularly evident in the final sequence that sees him come face to face with his more sinister doppleganger. But conveying the overall sense of the film, he does not allow his performance to be too eccentric, and therefore his occasional helplessness and passivity makes him all the more vulnerable. 

What the film lacks, perhaps, is a sense of urgence in the love affair itself, which should be the epicentre of the storyline and is instead widely underdeveloped, much like the character of NORA-JANE NOONE, that is inconsistent and unreachable in any significant way.