Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
Coherence is a genuinely singular achievement in micro-budget sci-fi thriller filmmaking. Its parallel-world premise is executed with impressive intelligence and escalating dread, using quantum physics and paranoia to extraordinary effect for its constraints. The improvised dialogue and handheld aesthetic give it raw authenticity though the cinematography is deliberately rough and occasionally chaotic. The acting is naturalistic and committed across the ensemble. Its conception — a Schrödinger dinner party slowly fracturing into existential terror — is distinctly original and unforgettable. The ending, while effectively unsettling, leaves some viewers wanting more resolution, but its ambiguity is largely intentional and earned.