Streaming on Prime Video - Rod Bishop recommends GAZER (Ryan J. Sloan, USA, 2024)

Ariella Mastroianni, Ryan J Sloan

Ryan J. Sloan was working as an electrician when he shot Gazer, his first feature during breaks from his day job. 

It took two-and-a-half-years and was entirely financed by Ryan and the lead actress Ariella Mastroianni. They also share the screenplay credit. 

Described by Indiwire as “A truly independent film in every sense of the word”, this gritty 16mm thriller uses a neurologically challenged Frankie (Mastroianni) as the central character in a crime conspiracy set in the industrial decay of New Jersey.

Frankie suffers from deteriorating memory and time distortions caused by dyschronometria - hours may suddenly go by; recollections from the past are constantly changing or forgotten; perceptions of everyday life are always to be doubted; and nothing in the world is stable.

Frankie’s coping mechanism is an old Sony Walkman playing 30-minute tapes to constantly remind her to focus on, and grapple with, her fracturing reality.

Her husband has apparently suicided and her mother-in-law has custody of her young daughter. Frankie loses her job pumping petrol as she’s constantly listening to her tapes: “What do you see? Focus!”. And a new acquaintance Paige (Renee Gagner), who is escaping a domestically violent brother, has offered to pay Frankie $3000 to collect car keys from her old flat. 

But like Frankie’s constantly breaking reality, all with Paige is not as it seems. Frankie finds herself falling into a dangerous, paranoid trap; following and being followed; and realizing those around her are not who they seem.

The audience becomes as disturbed as Frankie. We are not just observers of her plight, but participants in her disarrayed world. Like her, as events unfold in this murder thriller, we are searching to understand her broken reality.

Dyschronometria is related to dementia and it’s the greatest strength of Gazer, alternating us through inabilities to remember; days that suddenly turn into night; lurching memories that can’t be trusted; and the distortions and uncertainties of understanding life.

Director Ryan J. Sloan has made an exemplary first feature here, greatly aided by Ariella Mastroianni’s mesmerizing and wholly convincing performance as Frankie. She literally holds the film together. And this film is always - and quite deliberately - threatening to fall apart.

Gazer often looks and feels like a 1980s psychological thriller, reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Following, with touches of Cronenberg’s body horror, and Lynch and De Palma paranoias.

Premiering last year in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, it seems odd it was bypassed for selection in Un Certain Regard, the Cannes showcase for best first and second features.