The Search for Coherence
This review has been excerpted from a paper written for Gonzaga University’s 2023 Film, Faith, and Philosophy Seminar.
At the intersection of the narrow, focused character study and the expansive imaginings of multiverse storytelling sits a film that clarifies the inner turmoil of modern existence. James Ward Byrkit’s Coherence is set on a smaller, familiar scale: a simple dinner party with friends. Four couples meet to reconnect and share a meal. The worries at hand are everyday ones, but they are no less significant to our lives for the fact that they are mundane—in fact, within the immanent frame we’ve inherited, they may take on an outsized weight.
Emily, who we are placed nearest to throughout the film, is uncertain about her future with Kevin. They’ve been dating for a while, and things have been fine, but Kevin’s about to leave on an extended business trip. Emily could uproot the rest of her life and travel with him, or she could stay, knowing that their relationship will fizzle into nothing across so great a distance. Her uncertainty is aggravated by the presence of Kevin’s ex-girlfriend, Laurie.
This type of indecision—the questioning of which path to take—confronts us routinely in our lives. Do I continue this relationship or break it off? Do I move to a different city to take this job and begin again? Do I put my time into my career or my community? The decisions range from small to large, but underneath them all is a constant consideration of what is most valuable.
For Emily, the cosmic weight of her choices will be given an unexpectedly literal significance. Over dinner, her group of friends discusses an approaching comet; when it passes near, the power at the house goes out. It appears it’s gone out everywhere in the neighborhood. Eventually, two of the men decide to venture a few blocks away to visit a house, only to return thoroughly confused: after wandering through the streets, they came to the original house. It slowly becomes clear, however, that it wasn’t actually the original house but an identical one, with an identical group of friends.
The arrival of the comet has caused a strange anomaly, triggering a multiverse in miniature. Every time someone ventures out into the streets, they will arrive at a different version of their party. The inverse is also frighteningly true—at any point, they may be visited by identical versions of themselves. Understandably, their tension rapidly escalates. Can they trust their doppelgängers? Can they trust each other? Past sins and doubts of present motives are predictably ushered to the fore, shattering all sense of unity. But another, more intriguing question coalesces: How should each person understand and interact with the myriad versions of themselves?
Coherence hones this notion, pushing for incisive reflection on our lives. In this multiverse, every instance of each person is the same, every moment prior to the comet’s appearance identical. Personality, past mistakes, desires. But the smallest changes during this night—what random object the group chooses to identify their house, what color marker is used—refract and open up new possibilities. The night may end with friendship restored and a newfound sense of unity; or it might end with irreparable harm. Kevin and Emily’s romance could be rekindled, or he may cheat on her with Laurie.
Before this night, the options for their lives seemed limited, if still difficult to parse. But this celestial anomaly has opened up innumerable paths. Their choices bear greater weight than ever before, even while indecision and confusion cloud their ability to act. But Emily hardly hesitates.
Byrkit’s film resides in the higher echelons of the mumblecore genre. The super low budget thriller relies much more heavily on script than showy effects, and the performances range from natural to somewhat stifling. Like Primer before it, Coherence may just be more fun and fruitful to reflect on after the fact than it is during its runtime—but that still offers a potential for remarkably deep enjoyment, and it isn’t a quality that should be dismissed.
Modern life is a labyrinth of conflicting paths. Navigating its landscape means being aware of the vast array of other options. Byrkit’s film literalizes those choices, asking us to consider not only other paths of life, but to also weigh the effect of those choices. It’s a perceptive inquiry. Every choice creates a new viable path. But each path closes off others. As the characters in Coherence discover, there is no road back to the way things were. There is no return, only a supernova of meanings.
