Sequence Break (2018) Movie Review

Sequence Break is the sci-fi horror romance from writer/director Graham Skipper that hit Shrudder exclusively on May 24th.

The film’s story and presentation is as simple as ones and zeros, but it’s twisted ending will have you speculating its meaning. What’s more, there’s something for just about everyone to enjoy. Nerds, hopeless romantics, ‘80s nostalgists, body horror fans, sci-fi fans, they’ll all have something to sink their teeth into. And, if your fixing for something that may or may not remind you of *Stranger Things, you’ll appreciate Sequence Break… it might be just me, but anytime I hear synthwave music I can’t help but think of the Stranger Things theme.

First to love, aside from the synthwave, we don’t just have retro video games, we have arcade video game cabinets! And they’re 8-bit gems. Now, I can’t name any of them, but they look similar to Asteroids, especially the primary game. Then we have a budding nerd romance that plays out about as awkwardly and creepy as you might expect. But most importantly, we have a mind’s gradual descent toward madness and that means more and more body horror. Yes, it’s gooey and gross and disturbing at times, it might “make you puke,” but damn does it look awesome.

So, as the promo material for Sequence Break says, there is definitely a David Cronenberg influence here. Personally, I think of Videodrome, which I mentioned in a previous post. I had also mentioned Tron, but after watching Sequence Break I’m less inclined to say that, even if we have a programmer and somewhat of a crossing over into another dimension top, the story and presentation is pretty simple, and because of that it’s very enjoyable. The story progresses and as it does we slowly get to know the characters, and when new details get dropped in like puzzle pieces, characters develop in the ways they react to these new pieces. The sequencing is nice and feels about as natural as it can given the context that this is a movie.

The Verdict:

Sequence Break certainly isn’t for everyone and there will definitely be people who hate it, but for those of a certain state of mind, they’re going to love it.

Rock Hard \m/