Out of Sync

Directed by Juanjo Giménez, Out of Sync follows Marta Nieto’s central character, a sound designer and foley artist, as her life is thrown into turmoil after she begins hearing sounds seconds (and eventually minutes) after they actually occur. It’s an intriguing premise that is, at the outset, employed to hopelessly underwhelming and aggressively uninvolving effect by Giménez, as the filmmaker, working from a script written with Pere Altimira, delivers an exceedingly (and excessively) deliberate first half that holds the viewer at arms length and essentially cancels out such positive attributes as Nieto’s stirring performance and Javier Arrontes’ striking visuals (ie its all just so muted and lifeless). There’s little doubt, then, that Out of Sync improves considerably as it passes the one-hour mark, as Giménez finally begins exploiting the irresistible potential of the sci-fi setup through a series of unexpectedly engrossing sequences – with the movie’s highlight undoubtedly a spellbinding interlude wherein Nieto’s protagonist follows a path laid out by a friend a few minutes earlier. And although the picture closes with an abrupt and kind of confusing final few minutes, Out of Sync has nevertheless cemented its place as an erratic yet ultimately rewarding drama that almost feels like the first movie in a new superhero series.

**1/2 out of ****