Originally published May 12, 2018 on FrontRowCentral.com
Superhero fever is still going strong, so it’s only natural for filmmakers of all stripes to want in on some of that sweet cape action. It’s never been easier for determined storytellers with a handful of cash and a little ingenuity to get their visions produced. Enter Matthew Charles Santoro, whose debut feature Higher Power opens in limited release this week. It plays by all the same general rules as your typical superhero yarn, but with enough of a hard sci-fi edge that it very nearly becomes something else entirely.
Higher Power tells the story of Joe Steadman (Austin Stowell), a middle-aged widower working as a security guard for a government agency while trying to patch things up with his estranged daughters, Zoe (Jordan Hinson) and Rhea (Marielle Jaffe). Joe has been selected for a clandestine experiment run by a mysterious figure (Colm Feore) we only ever see sitting behind a computer. The experiment imbues Joe with extreme electromagnetic powers, but in order for Joe to unlock his full potential, the shadow organization threatens his daughters’ lives.
This is all for the greater good, of course. It’s established early and often that a burst of gamma radiation is hurtling through the cosmos towards Earth. And if you think there’s even the slightest chance that Joe’s newfound powers might not be exactly the tool needed to save the world, well then you, my friend, have not been to the movies lately. (You should come back sometime. We have leather recliner seating and those soda machines that let you mix Grape Fanta with Diet Vanilla Coke Zero. It’s great.)
For a hero’s powers to emerge under extreme duress is nothing new; it’s pretty much the basis of every Marvel mutant ever invented. Though while ‘extreme duress’ for the X-Men means ‘adolescence’, for Joe Steadman it means a crumbling family, deteriorating mental state and substance abuse. Put him under even the slightest bit of pressure and he’ll crack; press him hard enough and he’ll literally explode. When he eventually lets loose, he immediately pulls a Superman and rescues a commuter train from the hole in the track that he had just caused.
On more than one occasion, Joe is asked to “deliver us” from the impending cosmic space laser, lending the film the faintest of religious connotations. Of course, it’s no coincidence that we see Joe attending Narcotics Anonymous, a group dedicated to helping its members recover by way of a ‘higher power’. The film only barely dips its toe into these waters until the very end, when it becomes a full-on transcendental experience. At times Higher Power strains to convey these ideas visually, but the finale is something truly unique. It’s like a Tool video starring Dr. Manhattan.
The film’s true strength lies in its execution. While the effects work is noticeably low-rent, much of it still hits the mark. Higher Power takes a fairly straightforward superhero premise and turns it into a cyberpunk thriller with dozens of computer interfaces, loading screens, and more HUDs than it can reasonably handle. At one point, Joe gets an ocular implant, allowing his captors to see everything Joe sees. This provides us with several sequences told through a first-person lens, themselves spliced in with other digital trickery that becomes a complete sensory overload.
Co-Writer/Director Santoro cut his teeth as an effects artist on a number of Marvel productions, so he knows where and how to deploy these effects. On a reported budget of $500,000, that’s a pretty damn good skill to have. Higher Power takes the Chronicle approach to superhero mayhem, opting for a “less is more” approach, but when push comes to shove and CGI becomes necessary, much of what we see is filtered through that found footage/first-person gimmick. Necessity became the mother of invention in this case. Here’s hoping Santoro gets another shot at an effects-driven sci-fi vehicle, because the one he’s crafted here is quite promising.
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