Heated Rivalry breakout Connor Storrie emerged as one of the most exciting new talents in ages, along with his co-star Hudson Williams. To say they’ve been at the forefront of the public eye over the last year would be putting it mildly. Clearly, any projects that either of them worked on that were filmed prior to their smash hit would be far less selective than offers they may be getting today. That is to say, April X, a sci-fi film overflowing with familiar ideas, is nowhere near the prestige level of that CRAVE original. Synthetic organs, lab-grown clones, dream recordings, memory preservation, and a futuristic society where the line between human and artificial has become increasingly blurred–nearly every concept here has been done before and better. Terribly written and strangely constructed, April X wastes an occasionally fascinating premise and the talents of Connor Storrie on an increasingly ridiculous sci-fi mess.
Bax (Storrie) is already involved in some shady dealings when we first meet him, trafficking synthetic organs with a friend in exchange for enough cash to cover nearly a year’s rent. His sister, April (Lilly Krug) possesses an unusual gift: she can perfectly control and remember her dreams, recording them onto discs so they can be experienced again. When the wrong people become interested in purchasing April’s neural data and a synthetic heart Bax sold ends up killing its recipient, their lives spiral out of control.
Though the setup is somewhat coherent, what follows is quite the hodgepodge. The movie gets increasingly lost within its own mythology. A satisfying set of rules are never established. Random red-tinged memories and abrupt flashes of dialogue only make matters worse. Even early on, scenes transition so strangely that it often feels like connective material has been accidentally removed. What initially seems like intentionally fragmented editing to reflect memory eventually just feels sloppy.
The world itself does have flashes of potential. Futuristic cars evoke Tron, and the moral implications surrounding the clones could have fueled an entirely different movie. The idea of wealthy clients purchasing “satisfying toys” created from women’s bodies and stolen memories is appropriately disturbing. Yet instead of digging deeper, the screenplay eventually abandons its most interesting material for a convoluted escape plot.
Storrie fares better than nearly everything surrounding him. After loving his work in Heated Rivalry, I was excited to see what he could bring to something completely different. Bax’s deterioration during a five-year time jump gives him occasional opportunities to tap into a genuine sadness, and the Bax’s obsession with recovering his sister provides the movie with its only consistent emotional throughline. Unfortunately, even Storrie can’t make sense of a screenplay that becomes more nonsensical the deeper Bax descends into its conspiracy.
There is a much better movie buried somewhere inside April X. The relationship between memory and identity alone could have provided enough material for an emotionally devastating sci-fi thriller, particularly through Bax’s desperation. Instead, weird editing and poorly established stakes transform an ambitious concept into a frustrating mess.
April X lucid-dreams in theaters everywhere on Friday, October 2nd.
