★★★☆☆
You Are The Film is an obscure sci-fi comedy that starts off rather grounded in terms of science fiction. But by the end of the first act, it slowly drifts into the abyss, becoming more tongue-in-cheek and leaning closer toward Spaceballs rather than How Long Will I Love You.
With a long writing filmography, Makoto Veda makes their directorial debut one of intrigue.
Veda’s script offers an interesting and compelling story, laying the groundwork for a romantic comedy with a twist. Even though the dialogue baptizes itself in campiness, it sets the tone for the film’s final destination without allowing the audience to know exactly where it’s going.
“Even though the dialogue baptizes itself in campiness, it sets the tone for the film’s final destination without allowing the audience to know exactly where it’s going.”
The two protagonists both go to a movie alone in an empty theater, where they see a movie about the other’s life—which just happens to be playing in real time.
As a concept, it works, but not for long before the film is in a race against itself to craft something interesting and engaging enough that viewers look past the plot holes lurking around every corner.
Veda approaches the plot holes with an interesting take: ignore that they’re there. The film never addresses the issues or concepts and essentially tells the characters not to worry about the details whenever an obvious question arises.
“The film is in a race against itself to craft something interesting and engaging enough that viewers look past the plot holes lurking around every corner.”
It offers an elevated Asylum-style script—something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, knows exactly what kind of movie it is, and leans into it.
The vision and execution are where the film’s saving grace comes from, as the film opens kind of strangely and only moves closer to that side of storytelling from there.
Makoto Veda’s approach and ability to balance the change in tone and structure between the two genres works without completely offsetting the film. It’s obviously campy from the beginning, but the level at which it embraces that campiness increases throughout the film.
Susumu Wada’s cinematography is loose and inconsistent, allowing the film to feel goofy and embrace the Mockbuster tone and style.
The shots are never truly crisp or engaging, which plays well into the tone and style of the film. Yet, it mirrors the direction, as the strongest and most well-crafted shots are at the beginning of the film before degrading from there alongside the tone and focus of the film’s narrative.
“It’s obviously campy from the beginning, but the level at which it embraces that campiness increases throughout the film.”
The score is interesting enough, although never quite pitch-perfect. Its overall approach is very strange and unusual. Given the tone and style of the feature, it doesn’t hurt the quality of the film as much as it merely stands out for being intentionally unconventional.
While the performances aren’t terrible, they are overacted throughout much of the film, given the nature of the subject matter. They offer performances that blend in with the narrative while staying true to the characters.
You Are The Film offers a fun look at what science fiction meets Mockbusters can be, even if it doesn’t go full-on Mockbuster, so to speak.
It’s undeniably campy and goofy, with a good understanding that the film’s intentions were always meant to be that way, and it embraces them fully. It offers what could be seen as a fun, campy film that leans into what it’s supposed to be.
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