The depth of the one-man, one-room thriller The Guilty is combined with the interdimensional communication of Frequency and an unflinching efficiency by Josh Stewart to offer us Lifeline. This 2025 directorial function debut by Feras Alfuqaha makes use of thriller thriller and sci-fi components as a window to a tense psychological drama the place Stewart’s Steven confronts his repressed childhood trauma. Falling across the 80-minute mark, Alfuqaha handles the concise, fast-paced storytelling fairly properly with a very fashionable path. That is how he manages to veer away from being only a rehashing of The Responsible and Frequency — Lifeline actually does stand by itself deserves for almost all of its runtime, proper till the ending which will depart a bittersweet observe in your mouth.
What Is ‘Lifeline’ About?
Steven is a psychologist who volunteers twice a yr at a suicide hotline name middle known as Lifeline, the place callers are utterly nameless. On New 12 months’s Eve, his spouse (Charlene Amoia) and son (August Maturo) exit to their respective events whereas Steven braces himself for an evening on the cellphone, the place he will likely be by himself for a lot of the night time. Because the movie unfolds, we witness Steven taking a couple of calls from a mysterious voice who retains hanging up, a prank caller, and a case of home abuse. Throughout this time, unusual earthquakes that viciously rattle his desk however have an effect on nobody else hold taking place, setting Steven’s nerves on edge much more than they already have been.
Nonetheless, issues actually take a flip when he begins chatting with a caller with the identical identify and private historical past. Although he initially believes it’s a prank name from his son, he’s slowly pulled into the thriller of how he might probably be speaking to this potential youthful model of himself, voiced by Judah Lewis. The younger Steven is in a motel room with a gun and is planning to shoot himself at midnight. Below the strain of this strict time restrict, the older Steven struggles to attach with him, all whereas being barraged by his recollections of a traumatic childhood.
Josh Stewart Makes Us Spend money on an In any other case Acquainted Narrative
It’s unimaginable to not instantly acknowledge how participating Stewart is in Lifeline, with the digicam usually proper up in his face the place we will nearly examine his pores and tense frown traces. He’s most famously recognized for his role in Criminal Minds as the level-headed and reliable Will, however has additionally dipped his toes into horror together with his grueling efficiency in The Collector franchise: Steven looks like a mixture of these. Stewart has at all times mastered the exhausted, pensive, and picked up demeanor, and right here, it is usually combined with the systemic descent into confusion and panic. He’s what we’d anticipate from a psychologist who’s making an attempt to function underneath the burden of so many confessions, whereas additionally relaying the impact of reliving his repressed recollections once more.
Whereas Stewart occupies our eyes with a purely reactive efficiency, Lewis arguably has the more durable position of encapsulating the trauma solely via his voice. His temporary appearances in Steven’s flashbacks do not give him sufficient time to do that, but his voice acting, from mimicking an immature model of Steven’s cadence to creating an immediacy to the occasions, successfully emphasizes this self-reflective by-play. Collectively, Stewart and Lewis craft a culminating emotional depth that makes the considerably predictable backstory nonetheless as visceral as ever. Scenes of Stewart with P. L. Brown as a safety guard or Luke Benward as Steven’s brother additionally add to this mind-bending, sci-fi thriller ambiance, which in flip feeds into the psychological descent of all of it.
Alfuqaha’s path makes certain our consideration is at all times riveted on Stewart, with the actor engulfing most of the screen time within the chilly, darkish lighting of the workplace. A dramatic rating by Omar Habbak that intensifies with every close-up varieties a gust of frantic power that involves an eerie standstill each time a flashback cuts onto the display screen, filmed in a 4:3 facet ratio, with a heat retro filter and a pulse of hysteria. You’ll assume that the switches between timelines can be disruptive to the momentum of suspense within the current one, however they’re by no means a beat too lengthy or too sudden, falling into a simple rhythm with the movie.
‘Lifeline’ Ends on a Thought-Frightening However Irritating Observe
Within the ultimate act of Lifeline, it’s the camerawork that marries the 2 genres of the movie collectively, the place tilting, swaying and panning create the reality-bending expertise of a thriller and uncooked feelings. However that is in all probability additionally the place Lifeline’s deadly flaw is available in. The closing sequence is carried out in a delicate, twisting, and captivating oner, the place we will pick little clues and tie your entire movie collectively in a satisfying bow. It feels atmospheric and deeply thought-provoking till you take pleasure in these ideas and a way of frustration begins to develop. Sadly, by making use of such a concrete and rational answer to the occasions of the movie, the outcome borders on cliché and feels a bit like a betrayal.
What makes Lifeline so compelling is the unknowable quality of the sci-fi mystery (the earthquakes, the anagrams, the potential outcomes of parallel universes) which displays Steven’s trauma. Whereas ambiguous endings are sometimes seen as a cop-out, Lifeline’s tangible one merely undermines the movie’s strengths and intrigue. Barring these final two minutes, the film was honed to near-perfection, respiration new life into tried ideas with Stewart displaying off his appearing chops proper on the middle of all of it.
Lifeline is now taking part in in theaters and is out there on VOD providers.
Lifeline
‘Lifeline’ is a contemporary tackle ideas we’ve seen earlier than by bombarding us with emotional depth and dazzling visuals.
- Launch Date
-
February 21, 2025
- Runtime
-
80 Minutes
- ‘Lifeline’ has an intriguing premise that effortlessly builds suspense.
- Josh Stewart calls for our consideration together with his nuanced, all-consuming efficiency.
- The movie fantastically balances mind-bending sci-fi components and a uncooked psychological drama.
- ‘Lifeline’s ending leaves a bitter style in your mouth.
