The Future: Life Shizophrenia All The Way

Do not let the name of the movie fool you - it's not a sci-fiction. But at moments I wish it was.

The characters do engage in certain super-natural tricks to stop the time - like controlling ocean tides and moon. The cat in movie does talk. And a t-shirt - a safety blanket for a 'her' character - is capable to crawl.

Described as a 'cute comedy', some of the film critics are too far from the reality to realize that there is nothing cute about this movie. It's a rather sad slow film that features a couple, who are far from normal. They are, actually, schizophrenic and I wish the audience did see the fact that what the characters say and do - can not be explained, but rather studied by the likes of Sigmund Freud and Nancy Andreasen - they are the perfect 'cases' for the psychiatrists to study. 

Please watch the trailer before reading further, the review would make more sense to you then.

First of all, I do not regret seeing the movie, although in about 20 minutes into the movie, I wanted to live because it's rather nauseous for a normal human being to see characters with psychological abnormalities - even despite the fact that human beings naturally are attracted to seeing something that either is not present in their lives and/or they are part of a society they live in. Sadly, schizophrenia is more common in our society than we'd like to believe. Moreover, I'm sure you know one or two people in your 'world' that could be defined as schizophrenics. And that makes the rest of us - uncomfortable and, at times, annoyed - because one world of "normalcy" can't collide with a "weirdness" to the point that other people just do not make any sense.

The movie "The Future" by Miranda July is a film about a rather awkward, weird couple in their early thirties living in Los Angeles: she - Sophie (played by Miranda July) , he - Jason (Hamish Linklater). Right from the beginning of the movie one understands why they are together - they match on many levels, especially on the mental one. They speak the same language - weird, strange, odd. They look rather similar - their eyes express a rather 'distant from Earth' thoughts, which could easily qualify for a portrayal of an alien. Their hairstyle is almost the same. They walk, talk and move other parts of their bodies - the same. What could qualify for a conversation with a normal couple, with them - it's a rather odd combination of words and sentences that do not make any sense, but rather prove my point of them being schizophrenics.

But despite the fact that this couple is NOT easy on a eye - they become rather annoying early in the movie for their obscurity and weirdness and actions that make other people (and in their case - a homeless adopted cat) ache - the movie still has all the elements of a good drama. It's definitely emotional and has pain, loss, grief, guilt and betrayal.

The Future does have both funny and tender moments but they are to watch as watching people with a down syndrom making love - it's uncomfortable. Even the way they kiss, hug, and express any other emotions is - uncomfortable.

I'm not sure what the director wanted to show - perhaps a piece of life that does exist and we should take a notice of that not all people are the same (which we already know) and that there are rather odd characters living among us (that we know too, just think of some of the people surrounding you and you'll find at least one person who cannot be defined by a 'common law'), but truthfully, the movie is rather an odd compilation of a daily routine that feels as a slow motion insanity.

Future shows two people stuck in the time and every single day in their life looks exactly the same from the day before. Their dialogues are slow, their conversations are slow and even their daily activities have no ending. It hurts to watch them throughout the movie doing NOTHING with their lives. Despite the director's attempt to show that the characters want to change their lives (I guess it's a subliminal message that only dolphins would understand), but we - as an audience - see them do NOTHING about their NOTHING.

She - Sophie, obsessed with YouTube videos by her coworkers' dance routines, is trying to make her own video, but once we see her dance - realize that this video would most likely ended up in the file of a clinical trial for a case of deep schizophrenia.

Him - Jason, a telecommuter who works from home, but then decides to CHANGE his life and enlists in 'saving the planet' solicitation to go door to door to sell trees and who believes that this kind of a job makes his life more interesting.

And then they decided to adopt a cat (called PawPaw), which becomes THE BEST PART of the movie - because at least the cat, who talks in the movie, makes sense! The cat is the ONLY normal character in the movie and even the cat becomes a victim of this odd couple.

They forget about the cat - about picking him up from the vet clinic, and the cat dies. The cat dies in sadness, because he/she is been waiting for them to come and pick him/her up. I, personally, wish the cat realized that the couple is fucked up - mentally and physically, and wouldn't have counted on them.

This film's genre is compared to the likes of Synecdoche, New York, The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and to some degree - it is. I guess the movie industry would continue to make movies about odd characters  - because they show us that our society is capable to hold all kinds of people without discrimination, political dissonance, and social avoidance. We accept them all - and we live with 'them', sharing space, resources, and elements of this Earth.

Miranda July, actor Hamish Linklater (R) and actor David Warshofsky attend the 'The Future' Premiere during day six of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival at Berlinale Palace on February 15, 2011 in Berlin, Germany.

I guess we are getting close to be accepting all odd balls in this life. And while Woody Allen used to fill out that 'odd space' in the cinematography before, now - in comparison to the oddness of the new films - he could easily move to the category of 'complete normalcy'. The new directors beat him, and I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing. Life is too hard and full of daily oddness to watch it more on a big screen. Please, bring some normalcy back into our lives, because even a most schizophrenic person would like to have a bit more normalcy in his/her life.

I do admit though that it takes a certain great odd talent to not only write such a script but to portray such odd characters. Miranda July did a great job, and she could be applauded to. My question, though, is - how many times I used 'odd' in the text? You do get my point, don't ya?