Multiverse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

Multiverse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 29, 2022

Marlee Matlin was one of the featured performers in the completely peculiar What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?, a film which was shot in my hometown of Portland and which actually featured some friends of mine in various supporting roles. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? sought to do some 'splainin' about various recondite theories in quantum physics courtesy of a "plot" which combined both relatively traditional narrative fictional elements with more of a quasi-documentary approach. It was an absolute mess, and that's an assessment coming from one of my friends who was in the film. (I actually kind of liked it, anyway, but to paraphrase the film's title, what do I know?) Matlin is back as one of the featured performers in Multiverse, a film which evidently began its (brief half?) life in theaters as Entangled, but as a long ago expert in quantum mechanics in some alternate universe once stated, a stinker by any other name would still smell as - well, you get the idea. Multiverse is one of those supposed "twisty" dramas that seeks to introduce a kind of pretzel logic where the entire story turns back on itself in an infinite loop, but the decidedly finite screenwriting and performances keep this film frequently anchored in mediocrity.

This is the kind of film where a team of plucky college students has been able to solve a problem that world class physicists have never been able to, all with the help of their handy dandy laptop computers. That, combined with some hilariously inept "summarizing" of theories of "entanglement" get this film off to such a precarious start that it's hard to imagine it ever recovering. That said, things arguably only go from bad to worse as things continue, with a senseless driving escapade to — well, somewhere to do — well, something that virtually telegraphs the fact that some horrifying collision is about to take place, which of course it does. And then (hold on to your M. Night Shyamalan hats, folks), the car the kids collide with ends up to be — another car with the kids.

That sets into motion a plot with two sets of the same characters, and, sadly, my hunch is few viewers will care about any of them, despite the fact that one of them is "differently abled" with a hearing loss (the character is the daughter of Marlee Matlin, who is basically a cameo presence). There's a bit of visceral energy that builds late in the film, as various doppelgängers are dealt with (one way or the other), but this is way too inartfully written to ever try to deal with such complex issues.

Multiverse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Multiverse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to uncover much if any authoritative technical data on this shoot, and really precious little online data of any kind about the film. This is a competent if not overly inspiring digital capture that I'm assuming was finished at 2K, and which often looks like a competent if not overly inspiring made for television film. As can probably be gleaned from some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, a lot of the film is drenched in kind of moody blues (no pun intended), but there are some rather interesting grading choices at times, especially as "worlds collide" (to quote a much more enjoyable science fiction film), as seen in such moments as that shown in screenshot 4. Detail levels are decent, with fine detail levels on things like fabrics generally quite good. I noticed no compression anomalies of any major import. There is really no significant use of special effects or CGI in the film.

Multiverse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Multiverse features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has fitful engagement of the side and rear channels, especially in some outdoor material, where ambient environmental effects can provide moments of decent immersion. For those wanting a bit of unexpected comedy, turn on the optional English SDH subtitles and look at how many different adjectives are accorded Ramachandra Borcar's synth laden, quasi-minimalist score (even the opening credits which feature a basic ambient wash of sound is described with an almost comical series of adjectives). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, for better or worse.

Multiverse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:37)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Multiverse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you see only one film featuring Marlee Matlin which supposedly deals with high-falutin' aspects of quantum mechanics, I'd recommend it be What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?, though that is probably damning with faint praise. This film takes itself way too seriously, which perhaps only makes it all the funnier. Technical merits are generally solid, for those who may be considering making a purchase.