Story: As a pandemic cascades across the world, Chris (Chris Brown) is doing his best to survive and keep his mind sharp, usually by watching his favorite movies. On a trip to the outside world, he encounters a carjacker and before he can really panic, the criminal vanishes. He chalks it up as just an odd situation, but when he ventures into his physical media collection and discovers that his Schizopolis DVD is nowhere to be found, he begins to spiral into confusion. When he tries to ask his friends about the movie, no one seems to know what he means and while Steven Soderbergh is a world class filmmaker, most of his more eclectic films seem to be erased. Is Chris breaking down under the pressure of the pandemic or has he somehow jumped into an alternate timeline and if so, how can he return to watch Schizopolis…and reunite with his family?
Entertainment Value: This no budget curiosity was shot during the Covid 19 pandemic and while not an official sequel, Schizopolis 2 is a creative, interesting picture. The concept is an odd one, a timeline where Steven Soderbergh never made Schizopolis and instead, became a much more popular mainstream filmmaker, much to the chagrin of our main character. I appreciate an offbeat premise and this one certainly qualifies, though it is never slavish to the concept and often spirals into chaos. That chaos is where Schizopolis 2 shines, those off the rails, inexplicable, or just confusing sequences that elicit laughs or a head scratch. I don’t mind being confused or taken on an offbeat narrative journey, so I was impressed with how filmmaker Chris Brown put the potential of the premise to such creative use. The low budget roots are obvious, but the movie leans into that indie spirit and while rough, there is creativity and passion for cinema throughout. The pace is good and Schizopolis 2 is never dull, so if you’re interested, give this one a shot.
In addition to writing and directing Schizopolis 2, Chris Brown is also our lead performer and he is goofy, over the top, and willing to do whatever to make a scene work. His love of cinema is so obvious, as he seems to be really going for broke with this performance. He dials up his turn to make sure the odd jokes and weird moments have the proper punch, not to mention some hilarious moments. Sometimes you might be laughing at Brown more than with him, but I think based on how he threw himself into this picture, he’d be fine with that. The rest of the cast has a lot less to do and no one really stands out, but the non actors involved add to the fun, at least to me. Some of the highlights of this cinematic adventure include a wood panel basement, relatable physical media storage woes, a Tinder date snuff film, bad car karaoke, an outlandish carjacking, proper pandemic safety measures, some sweet dance moves, and of course, a dick slicing samurai. Good times.
Marc Fusion 