‘Things Will Be Different’ Review – Rad And Enigmatic [SXSW 2024]

Things Will Be Different is a funky and eclectic science-fiction tale that aims to keep the genre weird. Some artistic film choices work with a particularly original style that sets the film apart. There are also choices where only a few things make sense or connect, adding a little mystery but can sometimes be frustrating. It’s even a little self-indulgent, which leads to a third act that is rather obvious and lets some bold storytelling choices go to waste.

Things Will Be Different’s script follows two estranged siblings, Joseph (A Walk Among the Tombstones’s Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (That’s Amor’s Riley Dandy), enjoying some good food at a small-town diner after a local robbery. They run through some cornfields to a farmhouse, where some good old boys are chugging some beers and shooting off their shotguns. The siblings emerge from the cornfields and are told to leave their property. They storm into the home frantically, looking for something that remains unsaid.

They begin reading from a journal that has strange directions. Steps like how to rewind clocks several times in different manners as if they were cracking a safe. Turning a closet door handle in a series of moves rapidly causes you to begin to lose count. All this is done while they hear cop car sirens in the distance and closing in. As they enter a closet, they light a candle, begin a strange chant, and travel to a different point in the home’s timeline.

The home is now orderly, and the farm is in a different season. They celebrate, as they still have two huge duffle bags worth of money in their hands and need to wait 14 days before they can transport them back. They drink plenty of scotch and talk about the future. Sidney wants to be with her daughter and give her a better life. However, as they prepare to leave, they discover a boarded-up closet with a message: “Go to the mill!”

There, the siblings find a church, a podium with an agreement etched in the wood for them to sign, and a magic safe with a tape recorder to communicate with someone from another dimension. This is where Michael Felkner’s film should be able to deliver on a solid premise. From there, it’s a mixed bag of a solid but uneven tone, strong ominous visuals, and oddly placed exposition. For instance, there’s no need to explain when Sidney begins to spit up blood when running from the farm home, which is solid and interesting work.

However, there’s nothing wrong with dropping the viewer in the middle of a plot that needs an explanation because the audience begins to ask themselves, “Where is the story taking me?” However, when the script tries to explain the unusual way they communicate with an ominous being through a tape recorder, the postulation is weak, and the dialogue is stale. A couple of examples of this are anything but seamless and feel incredibly forced. The film would have benefited from fleshing out the backstory and evenly folding it into the main timeline to give the characters greater depth and emotional connection to the audience. 

Things Will Be Different is by no means a bad film. That’s because it has plenty of potential. The first act is suspenseful, engaging, and entertaining. The ending is almost rad enough to forgive the film’s flaws. However, we must recognize that this is an independent film effort, so there are limitations to the resources available to it.

Overall, the final product lacks cohesion, and a needless plot twist in the final act does not help matters. Things Will Be Different would have better served to remain completely enigmatic instead of pandering to audiences by connecting one or two dots. This error happens during the attempt to catch the “visitor.” This twist undoes much of the goodwill sustained by Michael Felker’s film’s weird charm.

Things Will Be Different had its World Premiere at SXSW 2024 in the Midnighter section.

Director: Michael Felker

Screenwriter: Michael Felker

Rated: NR

Runtime: 102m