Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Elsewhere Blu-ray Movie Review

Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't live with keeping?

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater June 8, 2009

Joining the glut of techno-centric teen chillers like Pulse and One Missed Call, Elsewhere casts a brooding eye on the corrupting and depersonalizing effects of online social networking. Far from horror, however, the film is planted firmly in the thriller camp, and is paced more like a police procedural than a brisk romp through the macabre. Considering writer and director Nathan Hope’s background as DP for the long-running television series C.S.I., this is unsurprising. Casting clever teens in lieu of cops, the story brings homicide investigation to the after-school set, with occasionally inspired but generally predictable results.

Set in the small every-town of Goshen, Indiana, Elsewhere concerns itself at the outset with two teenage girls who, like most kids from small towns, long to be, yes, you guessed it, elsewhere. Sarah (Twilight’s Anna Kendrick) is the responsible one, the do-good daughter of an absent lawyer mom, a local star of track and field and, as director Hope likes to put it, “a 100-watt bulb in a 5-watt town.” Her confrere Jillian (Lost alum Tania Raymonde), on the other hand, is a lascivious trollop, a lollipop-licking Lolita whose one-way ticket out of Boringsville is a sexy pin-up profile on an unnamed but wildly popular social networking site. Hoping to find a man that will “take her away from this place,” Jillian takes the online persona of Durtygrrl, attracting in the process a creepy and overenthusiastic throng of cyber-admirers. When Jillian goes suddenly missing, leaving only her diary and a puzzling video message behind, Sarah enlists the help of Jasper (Chuck Carter), the good-hearted but geeky tech guy at their local library. Together they parse the clues and narrow down their suspects. Could it be Mr. X, Jillian’s shadowy online paramour? Is it Billy (Paul Wesley), her jilted former beau? And what of Mr. Tod (Jon Gries), the God-fearing conservative who only wants to shield his daughter Darla from the ill-influence of a society gone woefully image-conscious? Whoever the culprit may be, the townsfolk seem patently unconcerned. After all, Jillian is one of those girls.

If it sounds cliché, it is, for the most part, but the central ideas of Elsewhere are certainly worthy of exploration. Why is it that the media, and society in general, only pay attention to missing girls that are pretty, sweet, or otherwise well-intentioned? What is it about the social networking experience that encourages exhibitionism without the careful consideration of who might be playing voyeur? The problem is, Elsewhere strains a bit too hard at its message at the expense of tension and believability. The film’s faults are largely internal. For a supposed thriller, Elsewhere is talky and overlong. Whole sections seem to plod through a miry slough of exposition and didactic dialogue. For all their surface similarities, Elsewhere is definitely no Brick. Characters banter with a forced and dated teen-speak that does nothing to give the film its own identity. Consider this nugget of dialogue: When one character claims that Jillian is being “such a bitch,” she actually responds with, “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” It doesn’t help that the film relies so heavily on stock stereotypes that border, at times, on caricature. The teenage temptress, the innocent but curious friend, the bumbling sidekick, the date-rapist jock—all get ample screen time here. One character, a pervy cop who resembles Bruce Campbell wearing a dental appliance, is particularly overwrought and brought me out of the experience altogether.

The acting, as one might expect from a film of this caliber, is a mixed bag. While Anna Kendrick plays Sarah with an honest, girl-next-door charm that is suitable, if a little uninteresting, Tania Raymonde’s Jillian goes beyond brash and well into the obnoxious. After seeing her play such a pleading, doe-eyed character on Lost, it’s jarring to see her attempt a crazy-sexy- reckless-cool, Angelina Jolie-style part. Her antics give us little cause to sympathize when she goes missing, and cynics may point out that this is precisely why the media turns a blind eye toward so-called “wayward” girls. That said, Jon Gries, another Lost veteran, deserves some credit for his grim-faced and vaguely menacing turn as Mr. Tod, a character far from Gries’ Uncle Rico days and more in line with his sad-dad portrayal of Benjamin Linus’ alcoholic father.

Elsewhere Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Director Nathan Hope has ample experience behind the camera, and considering the film's paltry $500,000 budget, Elsewhere doesn't look as bad you might expect. However, inconsistent may be the best word to describe the quality of this 1.77:1 1080p AVC transfer. Colors are generally bold and saturated, but as a whole, the picture lacks depth and does little to beckon you into the screen. Some scenes are sharp, like an early sequence of the girls applying make-up, with sufficient detail and no telltale signs of edge enhancement. Others sporadic scenes, however, are soft to the point of distraction. Grain is present and strong throughout, especially in night scenes, and slight banding can sometimes be seen in the color gradients surrounding bright light sources. I did notice that the blacks, while strong, occasionally crushed detail. The biggest offender, though, is the sporadic presence of white and black flecks throughout the duration of the film, a defect that seems inexcusable for such a recent production.

Elsewhere Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Elsewhere's DTS 5.1 HD-MA track is similarly inconsistent. Dialogue is crisp and adequately presented, but the rear channels languish from lack of use. Aside from mild ambience, soundtrack cues, and the occasional piercing stab, they remain quiet, leaving the sound field thin and occasionally barren. LFE, however, is well incorporated and gives the few action heavy scenes appropriate heft and throb. It's a matter of preference, of course, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the score. One particular motif contains compressed and distorted guitar tones that sound like your kid brother recorded them on his laptop. Another piece riffs a little too heavily on the ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma percussiveness of the Friday the 13th films. All said though, the audio portion of the AV package is suitable and works moderately well in conjunction with the film.

Elsewhere Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

In an age of broadband, this collection of special features harkens back to dial-up. Elsewhere includes a mildly interesting commentary with director Nathan Hope and producer Vincent Palomino, six throw-away deleted scenes, a photo gallery, theatrical trailer, and a short, run-of-the-mill featurette entitled The Road to Elsewhere, in which the director discusses the origins of the script and cast members ruminate on what it all means. All special features are presented in 480i standard definition.

Elsewhere Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While I admire director Nathan Hope's attempt to make a film that implies its horror, rather than brutally and gratuitously exploit it, I can't help but wonder who the target audience is for Elsewhere. ADHD teens will likely be bored by the flick's slow pace, while more mature audiences will roll glassy eyes at its generalities and hum-drum moralizing. Ultimately, if the film somehow presented itself to me in the form of a Facebook friend request, I would most likely, and with very little deliberation, click ignore.