MORE TO WATCH SYNCHRONIC (15)
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PARAMEDICS Steve Denube (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis Dannelly (Jamie Dornan) work the late-night shift in New Orleans. Increasingly, the two men respond to calls where victims have taken a designer drug called Synchronic engineered by Dr Kermani (Ramiz Monsef ).
Steve attempts to prevent further casualties by purchasing the remaining tablets just as he contemplates his own mortality: he has an advanced stage brain tumour and could die in as little as six weeks.
When Steve learns that Synchronic could be a time travel pill linked to the disappearance of Dennis’ daughter Brianna (Ally Ioannides), the terminally ill paramedic takes one dose to experience the head rush.
“The present is a miracle,” he gushes to his shell-shocked partner.
Co-directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, whose previous film was the mindbending sci-fi thriller The Endless, Synchronic continues to indulge the film-makers’ fascination with the fluidity of time.
A neat central premise builds a dramatic head of steam, allowing for some visually arresting flashes as Steve travels to different eras and learns that the past can kill.
The plot skirts uncomfortably close to preposterousness in a hurried final act but Mackie’s sincere performance papers over some of the cracks. Dornan is side-lined for extended periods and when the narrative requires his support, there’s not a great deal of emotional heavy lifting required from the Fifty Shades actor.