Laguna Ave looks both ways before crossing the street into crazy town — that being a black and white Los Angeles where cyborgs and shadowy organizations exist, so, not too far from reality. Director David Buchanan and writer Paul Papadeas provide a roadmap that takes detours to different genres, setting up the movie to look like a mere down-on-his-luck average Joe narrative, but then injecting the story with a healthy dose of comedy, effective horror elements, and a mystery science fiction at its central plot that is cleverly disguised as a psychological thriller.

Laguna Ave stars Russell Steinberg as Russell, a man struggling to find work in the entertainment industry after being let go from his gig as a video editor. After his girlfriend leaves for a business trip, Russell finds himself alone with his thoughts, prosthetic hand, and stolen sex files that he can use to blackmail his old boss. When his former boss attempts to murder Russell, he becomes involved with his mysterious and elusive neighbor Gary (James Markham Hall Jr.), who rescues Russell and helps him hide the evidence. Russell is subsequently pulled deeper and deeper into Gary’s world, having his mind and body altered in irreparable ways and his fate intrinsically intertwined with the potential end of the world.

The first half of Laguna Ave seemed like it would be an amateur foray into a narrative, however, at the midpoint of Laguna Ave, the film’s tone changes and becomes more paranoid and darker as clues set earlier in the film begin to take hold. While watching one particular scene from Laguna Ave, I felt a familiar agony experienced while watching the gruesome torture sequence in Audition (1999), but overall, I feel Laguna Ave actually takes a heavy influence from Tetsuo (1989), combining the horror of body modification with technology. The science-fiction aspects of Laguna Ave stem from the film’s use of medical experimentation and advanced machine technology, both of which are depicted wonderfully through both practical effects and CGI.

A lot of the time, it only takes a series of coincidences that loosely explain something for a new idea to take root in someone’s mind. That happens for the protagonist in Laguna Ave, delivering a story that causes one to question reality and lies. James Markham Hall Jr. plays his part as the captivating new age leader well, side-stepping coming off as a “magical negro” character, despite having magical technological powers — he imbues his character with all of the presence and personality one can muster for a mysterious character. Another standout was protagonist Russell Steinberg, who played Russell with an endearing average-joe appeal but also let loose in particularly intense scenes, ones usually shared with James Markham Hall Jr.

I can safely say that Laguna Ave does not disappoint; Buchanan always seemed to make the perfect choice for framing scenes, its black and white color, though likely due to budget constraints was still a welcome choice for depicting this story. Due to be released on August 27th, Laguna Ave is a black-and-white, darkly comedic, slightly thrilling and horrific science-fiction story that makes this unique brand of horror relatable, despite its story being set in an alternate reality.

7 out of 10