Review of 'Syd and Chloe and the Myriad Worlds'

Just saw Jay Kensinger's Syd and Chloe and the Myriad Worlds 40-minute short film (he wrote, directed, and has a cameo at the end of the movie). It's a provocative, excellent science fiction movie, with a great metaphysical premise, and a fun rendition.

[Mild spoilers ahead ... ]

The premise: if you subtract one class of things from an infinite set or universe, that universe will still be infinite (because infinite in effect means immune from subtraction) but it will nonetheless be lacking that thing or class of things. As far as I know, Kensinger himself came up with this powerful and profound idea, and it's compelling indeed.

And Syd and Chloe and the Myriad Worlds shows that it makes for a fine little movie. The two title characters are inter-reality agents -- they can travel from one reality or universe to another -- and they're after William, a psychopathic robot who is pruning or deleting realities not to his liking. They're joined by Melanie, presumably of this our Earth, who plays a decisive role in the resolution of the peril.

The actors are unknown to me, except for Kensinger, who wrote and directed and starred in The Chronology Protection Case, a short film he made from my novelette of the same name (right, I'm not an objective viewer of Kensinger's work -- but, trust me, I wouldn't write a review that said how much I enjoyed any movie of his, unless I really very much enjoyed it). I'll also mention here, while on the subject of Kensinger, that he also wrote the music for Syd and Chloe, which also worked very well.

Back to the acting, I thought Eva Shumaker as Melanie was really good. She has an expressive face, and I expect a future in acting if she pursues it. Adrienne Carter as Chloe and Helene Simkin Jara as Syd make an unorthodox, even memorable pair of agents, and Greg Paroff is suitably chilling as William.

Syd and Chloe will be making the rounds at film festivals. Here, to whet your appetite, is the trailer. Catch it and then the movie if you can.