Between Worlds, a supernatural romance thriller that has little to do with the supernatural or romance or thriller follows Joe (Nicolas Cage), a down-on-his-luck truck driver with a tragic past (so basically, a truck driver) who rescues Julie (Franka Potente) from being choked in a public restroom. She explains that she is able to communicate with spirits, but only while suffocating. The last time I used that excuse, an Uber I didn’t request showed up for me in a matter of minutes. 

Anyway, Julie is attempting to contact her 18-year-old daughter Billie (Penelope Mitchell), who is currently in a coma due to a nasty biking accident with some ne’er-do-well guy friends whom Julie holds resentment towards. For no other reason other than him being nice, Julie allows Joe to come back to her home and they begin a sexual relationship. They really make a point of telling you how sexual it is. Billie is able to awaken from her comatose state, much to the relief of Julie and Joe, but something about her is different: the spirit of Joe’s deceased wife has proved stronger, and possesses Billie’s body to settle her unfinished business with the living, whatever that may be. Upon realizing this, yes, Joe begins a sexual relationship with attractive, teenage not-Billie as well. 

Recently, Cage has admirably been taking on roles in independent films such as Mom and Dad and Mandy, and it makes sense that he would see potential in Between Worlds. It’s a promising premise with plenty of opportunities for drama and tension, most of which instead provide almost as many laughs as the infamous “not the bees “ scene. So before the haunting sounds of Cage-coitus come back, I will give props to Cage and Potente for being able to carry a script that is clunky in delivery, with the characters saying dialogue that always just seems a liiiitle bit wrong; things normal people would never actually say in real life, the script equivalent to beginning a sentence with “and also.” (“So a ghost took over Billie’s body like some kind of hermit crab?” Yes, really.) Any and all genuine interactions that occur between the characters is due to the chops of Cage and his co-stars but somehow feels as awkward as Joe feels when Julie walks in on him having sex with her teenage daughter.

Let’s put a pin in that. Joe isn’t just a truck driver dealing with the grief of losing his wife and daughter: he’s freshly unemployed after failing to meet his quotas, an alcoholic who could tell you what time it is with his 5-o’clock shadow, and looks as if he hasn’t bathed since Jason Mraz was relevant. And somehow, women everywhere are throwing themselves at him for no other reason other than he’s a man who isn’t a total asshole. From one female writer/director to another, Between Worlds could have been an opportunity for a portrayal of female sexual liberation or even male objectification, but has too much of a male-gaze experience that only further empowers and strokes (pun intended) the ego of our male protagonist. If that wasn’t enough, in one particular scene of Billie having a far-too-enthusiastic session of love-making to Joe, he reads aloud from a book entitled “Memoirs: by Nicolas Cage”. Yes, really.

And this is where Between Worlds seems to struggle the most: defining a specific tone and knowing what it wants to be. The comedic moments are unsettling and the dramatic moments are comedic, and it’s difficult to determine if this is accidental or if it’s the actual intention. At the risk of spoiling, the film ends with an incoherent Nic Cage literally going up in flames at the hands of a woman who has betrayed his love and trust (Wicker Man, anyone?), that would have been complemented wonderfully with the Curb Your Enthusiasm frolic theme. On another note, despite the unconventional narrative structure and pacing, the story is fairly easy to follow as long as it’s taken with a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief. And on an unrelated note, my ears perked up at the use of a couple of Black Flag’s greatest hits. 

Again, if my perfect description of Nic Cage sex scenes doesn’t faze you, watch at your own risk. But ultimately, the intention of Between Worlds seems to just be weird for the hell of it, and no amount of wonderful Cage weirdness can carry that.