Some say that it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. But often times lost love can linger like a storm cloud over a person’s life, impeding their ability to experience joy in the here and now. In Speed of Life, we meet one such person struggling to overcome such a road block. The film begins in 2016 with June (Allison Tolman) and boyfriend Edward (Ray Santiago) arriving to their home shortly before the news breaks that David Bowie has died. Edward’s blasé reaction to both the news and June’s reaction leads to a fight about their larger relationship issues regarding Edward’s cavalier attitude and lack of demonstrative love toward June. During their fight, Edward slips into a rift in time and space, disappearing instantly. 24 years later, an older June (Ann Dowd) is preparing for her 60th birthday in a dystopian America where seniors are corralled into government-owned housing away from society. June and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Sam (Jeff Perry) are preparing to flee the country ahead of the forced exile when Edward suddenly emerges from the rift in time. June is now forced to choose between the life she now knows and the opportunity to rectify what once was.
Speed of Life is, at its core, an exploration of the place of love in our lives; our need to feel it and how its absence or loss can linger indefinitely once it has left us. June and Edward’s last conversation before his disappearance revolves around June’s need to feel genuine caring from Edward and once he vanishes from her life, the sudden removal of the man she loved from her life prevented her from ever moving forward with anyone else, or even leaving from the spot he left in the hope he would miraculously return. The figurative lack of closure of the old wounds of love preventing people from experiencing the real closure of moving on from their pasts into a more stable present and future is a tale as old as time. June has a man in her life that pines for her and displays a willingness to risk himself and uproot his life for her own safety, but the unresolved feelings she has for Edward prevents her from seeing what she is over wondering about she used to or could have had. While June eventually resolves this once Edward reappears, most people do not ever get this luxury and are instead permanently held in a state of limbo due to their inability to let go of past disappointment and pain. June’s resolution serves as a message for all those unable to move forward due to the anchor of their past. A subplot involving Sam’s daughter, Laura (Vella Lovell) and her neighbor Phillip (Sean Wright) serves as a counterbalance for the June-Edward-Sam triangle, depicting the healthy aspect of finding someone when you need them.
The film also serves as a welcome starring vehicle for Ann Dowd, the longtime great character actress currently enjoying a boost in fame as she stars in the highly lauded and beloved The Handmaid’s Tale and a pivotal appearance in 2018’s Hereditary. Dowd does well with the opportunity here; her wistful remembrance of Edward as a heartbroken almost widow feeling raw and real. Ray Santiago has some good moments in the film, in particular a solo scene set in a lush garden as he emotionally contacts his surviving sister and inquires as to how her life has gone and lets her know how much he loves her without revealing himself to have returned. It is probably the most well acted and well shot scene in the film and certainly the most emotional.
Speed of Life does well in visualizing a distant future in a sci-fi flick on a low budget. It does this through subtle touches, a piece of feasible technology here, a piece there. Substantively, the future shown in the film with government audio surveillance in every home feels eerily prescient due to the growing ubiquity of devices like Amazon Dot and the Google Home. The connection to David Bowie and his death feels a little specious, as it barely connects to the larger story at all. It’s examination of love and its complexities is well done, if not something you’ll feel like you’ve seen done before. Despite that fact, it’s well written and well acted enough that doesn’t feel too stale and is still somewhat interesting. All in all, Speed of Life is a small budget sci-fi film that director Liz Manashil manages to make look more expensive and include some always relevant analysis of love.
Image: Womanshil
