For a brief period in time, it seemed as if actor/singer Steven Strait was on his way to becoming one of Hollywood's "it" guys with films like Sky High, The Covenant, and 10,000 B.C. offering a glimpse into the former model's action star meets soulful presence aura.
The whole "it" thing never really happened, though Strait has remained a strong presence in both film and television with work in The Expanse, Chicago Fire, and Magic City proving Strait's talent was far more, well, expansive than Hollywood initially let us know.
Now, he's showing up in Serena, a sci-fi tinged indie horror set for its world premiere at the Raindance Film Festival. Rob Alicea directs from a script by Jonathan Benecke and P.T. Hylton, and while we've seen similar stories before we've seldom seen them this effectively done.
Strait is Chris, a former rock star on the downward spiral with mounting debt, a baby on the way with girlfriend Vicki (Maria Gabriela Gonzalez) and not a whole lot of prospects on the horizon. When his best friend Will (Tyrone Marshall Brown) serves up an opportunity to join the beta test of his tech company's latest A.I. masterwork along with some badly needed extra cash, Chris really isn't in a position to decline.
I'm not inclined to go heavily into where Serena's story goes from here, however, it should be no surprise that the film's action centers around a chatbot known as, you guessed it, Serena.
What makes Serena unique, I suppose, is that the story unfolds entirely through a computer screen. This fits the unfolding narrative, of course, and Alicea pulls it all off quite nicely with the help of Dominick Sivilli's impactful lensing. I've reviewed Sivilli's work before, and he continues to impress.
Serena really soars on the strength of co-leads Strait with Andi Matichak as Serena. The two have an absolutely terrific chemistry. It's a blast watching this relationship take its twists and turns as the story unfolds, at times freakishly uncomfortable because it all feels very, very possible.
One can't help but hope that a film like Serena brings Strait back into the Hollywood spotlight. He's absolutely terrific here exuding a warmth and believability that draws you in and doesn't let you go. The story goes places you don't quite expect, though it all feels realistic even as it feeds upon a growing paranoia around the growth and pervasiveness of A.I.
Matichak vacillates between a sort of comfortable seductiveness and the kind of temptress that makes you say "What have I gotten myself into?"
Serena's a winner from beginning to end. The story never really hits a false note, and it winds down in such a way that feels honest to everything that has happened before it. With a strong supporting ensemble and a visual palette that is immersive in all the right ways, Serena looks to have a solid festival journey and should have no problem finding a distribution home with an indie/boutique distributor that can give it the love and attention it deserves.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
