Paranoia Will Destroy Ya
EMR Takes Conspiracy Theory to a New Level

In an age of information, it is perhaps the height of terror to lose one's memory. For Adam Jones, the problem is more than just forgetfulness. It is a loss of self. In the new psychological thriller, EMR, first time film directors James Erskine and Danny McCullough take audiences on a personal journey through conspiracy, paranoia, the Internet, and one man's struggle to discover why he is losing his mind.

EMR
Adam (Adam Leese) finds himself naked, missing a kidney, and with no memory of how he ended up in Mexico in the new psychological thriller EMR. (Shiny Object Digital Video Inc., 2005)
Directed by: James Erskine and Danny McCullough
Written by: James Erskine and Danny McCullough
Starring: Adam Leese, Whitney Cummings, and Guy Henry

Rated Not Rated
Running time: 86 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.

Adam (Adam Leese) is not an outstanding person. His obsessive-compulsive tendencies force him to live a very secluded life in Essex, England. He is teased at work about his interest in UFOs and other conspiracy theories. His best friend, CyberBunnyLilly, is a San Francisco woman whom he chats with via the Internet. His life is unexceptional until Lil sends him to a website where he reads about a conspiracy regarding pharmaceutical testing.

The manufacturer Pfenal has been testing a new drug called Protex-E. As misfortune would have it, this is the same experimental drug Adam has been taking for his epilepsy. When he goes to the Pfenal website to search for more information, a flashing, animated graphic sets off Adam's epilepsy and he has a seizure. The next thing he knows, he wakes up in a bathtub in Mexico with a scar on his back. It appears that he has become a victim of an organ stealing conspiracy and he has no recollection of how he got there.

The story of EMR takes a number of abrupt twists and turns as Adam tries to understand what has happened to him. His nightmares of long hallways and strange rooms are punctuated upon waking by real bruises and scrapes. His co-workers tell him he has been fired for not showing up to work for a week, but he thinks he saw them yesterday. More and more frequently he finds himself waking up in strange places, including San Francisco, where he finally meets Lil (Whitney Cummings).

The movie flits between realistic and strange, dipping at times into pure surrealism. In one scene, Adam shows up at a strange bar where everyone seems to know him. The bartender gives Adam a glass of green pills. The man weeping at the end of the bar is given a glass of bullets, and he leaves to kill himself. A woman walks in and hooks up IVs to the bar patrons. The director, McCullough, makes an uncredited cameo in the scene.

Erskine and McCullough shot this film on a shoestring budget. While Erskine handled pre-production in England, McCullough did work in the States. The result is a small film that feels like a bigger movie because of the different locations.

Leese's everyday looks give Adam a quality that makes him believable. He seems to be going through hell, and Leese manages to make the audience pity Adam while we also fear that maybe, just maybe, this is all a paranoid delusion. The supporting cast, including Cummings and Guy Henry, offer solid backup to Leese's outstanding performance.

While the film can be shocking, surprising, and confusing at times, it follows an internal logic of its own that pays off at the end. To my pleasure, this isn't one of those movies that leaves the ending open to interpretation. The answers are there, if you pay attention.