Sean Parker
Back in 1998, Director Peter Howitt wrote and directed a movie about alternate timelines where the difference between making a subway train meant the difference between professional and personal fulfillment for one Gwyneth Paltrow. Sliding Doors was a toss-up with critics and audiences, but the film had figured out how to tell a single story with one character whose life branches in alternate, multiversal directions. Watching Arianna Martinez’s Do I Know You From Somewhere? left me thinking that Howitt’s unevenly received film has still managed to captivate the thoughts of artists and creators as we continue to evaluate our choices through characters on the silver screen. Martinez’s new film is sublimely inspired by the romantic-dramedy, building from the what-ifs of a woman caught at a crossroads of romantic decisions.
The fun part about Do I Know You From Somewhere? is that Martinez’s setup resembles a thriller. The film sees Olive (Caroline Bell) and Benny (Ian Ottis Goff) experiencing some weird phenomena, as items appear and disappear around their cottage home –items that neither remembers purchasing in the first place. Things only get stranger for the couple who will appear beside each other and then flicker away from one another. Neither understands what is happening, and there’s a sense, given the title of the film, that perhaps these glitches of memory may have a far sadder, medically diagnosed connotation attached. However, the appearance of a woman on the banks of a river implies there may be a third person attempting to pull the couple apart.
Honestly, as mainly a horror film reviewer, I was excited for the myriad of directions Do I Know You From Somewhere? could go in. Nothing’s better to a viewer than being surprised and consumed by a story, as opposed to getting ahead of it and waiting for the film to catch up. The appearance of number magnets, which seem to be counting down, adds urgency to the unfolding chapter narrative. Meanwhile, flashbacks to Olive and Benny’s meet-cute at a wedding reception adds character depth, likability, and general concern for the couple, as we contemplate whether or not their romance will survive whatever is happening to them.
However, what Do I Know You From Somewhere? seems to be on the surface, and where it ends up going, are very different. While I was expecting the film to delve into something sinister, Do I Know You From Somewhere? is a genuinely sweet film that romanticizes a brief encounter and supposes what life might be like. As the movie continues to recount the wedding where the two lovers meet, a new fantastic reality is set in motion as Olive has two love-at-first-sight encounters. Ada (Mallory Amirault) enters the film, setting off a new timeline of events as we explore what life might be like if Olive had spoken to her instead of Benny.
Creatively, Martinez takes the Sliding Doors moment and instead of branching two timelines off from it, sort of does the opposite. While I’m unsure whether Martinez and co-screenwriter Gordon Mihan are Marvel multiverse fans, the Time Variance Authority from Loki would revel in the way this film works, needing to prune a branching timeline, in a heartbreaking and beautiful display of choice. Only one of these relationships is going to make it, and it becomes impossible to know what to do when you’re unsure of what you want.
While I may write the majority of horror reviews on this website, when it comes to these tear-jerking romantic dramas, I’m really just a big softy. I had seen some of the other reviews on the Do I Know You From Somewhere?, with many reviewers feeling it was a very middle-of-the-road experience, much in the way Sliding Doors was first received as well. Yet, I honestly think Arianna Martinez plays her film with far more depth and heart than the bigger-budget studio film, providing a captivatingly light touch that makes the film feel floaty and slightly magical in a way.
I also prefer Martinez and Mihan’s concept of closing a chapter, or shutting a door, rather than getting caught up in alternate versions of a life unlived. This film is about the momentary grief spiral of indecision and the growth that can come from knowing what you may actually want, the kind of life-changing decision that a break-up can elicit, even if the wonder for what might’ve been lingers. That’s a far more realistic and resonant concept than I suspect many others might consider.
On the technical side of things, there are a few little things that could be better. The lighting in some of the wedding reception scenes is a bit overdone, washing out the actors, and there are moments where the dialogue is projected a bit more for a theater performance than for filming a movie. However, in the grand scheme of things, these issues are trivial. The idea to start the film as a thriller helps draw the audience into Do I Know You From Somewhere?, while the charming, innovative style keeps them engaged. The indie spirit flourishes lively through Martinez, who delivers a bittersweet, heartstring-pulling, romantic drama about necessary endings that is worth taking a chance on. And you should… or otherwise you might regret it.
Do I Know You From Somewhere? is available on PVOD starting June 27.
