Movie review - Acidman

Acidman **1/2 (out of 5) The title might give the impression of a new megavillain for Batman to dispatch to the good ol’ Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Zealous. Nothing could be further from the product you’ll see, which is about as low-key as films can get. A father (Thomas Haden Church) and daughter (Diana Agron) tentatively try to reconnect in his remote forest cabin after years apart. He left the family when she was young, so her arrival surprises him. Church has spent the intervening years observing, documenting and trying to communicate with the aliens he thinks are responsible for the moving patterns of lights he regularly sees in the sky. He’s been analyzing his data obsessively, alone except for his dog, and hassles from bored local kids who taunt this eccentric loner with the eponymous nickname and occasional acts of vandalism.

Agron claims to have made the journey to check on his condition, but he and the viewer sense another agenda. Eventually, we learn more of their history and why she chose this time to track him down (no small effort, apparently) and wrestle with the mutual awkwardness of long estrangement.

This is the sort of “little film” that art houses and festivals thrive on. It’s already earned a few wins and nominations among the latter. The pair deliver fine understated performances, holding our attention though very little action is occurring, and while questions remain not only unanswered, but unasked. Director/co-writer Alex Lehman set the mood not only with the sparseness of dialogue and movement, but the barebones settings in a misty woodland overlooking an ocean. We hardly see any other people, and only a few buildings in its efficient 87 minutes. As the art of jazz is said to be the notes that aren’t played, the depth of this film lies in the silences between lines.

They could have called the film Contact, if the title hadn’t already been used in a more overtly alien-themed movie. Church’s years of figuring how to respond properly to establish two-way communication parallels Agron’s efforts to understand what makes daddy tick, and what that insight may mean for her and them. The script admirably foregoes a typical Hollywood feelgood set of revelations and decisions that put a pretty bow on the issues for smiles all around when the credits start rolling. As I mentioned – arthouse fodder. And quite successful on its own terms.

(Acidman opens in theaters and On Demand 3/31/23)