Director Ryan J. Sloan delivers an impressive feature debut with the new, nebulous thriller GAZER. Floating in the murky realm of fading memory, we follow Frankie (Ariella Mastroianni) as she battles with dyschronometria while forging a new path, saving money for her young daughter’s future. Frankie’s rare condition makes it difficult to perceive time and to recall events. So when a new friend pulls Frankie into a tangle of crime, mystery and murder, the hope of a brighter future for she and her daughter is at stake. Lead actor Mastroianni co-writes with director Sloan to deliver an atmospheric, moody thriller that recalls the best bits from works that inspired it for sure. GAZER is a rich visual feast that toys with the mind in the most perplexing and fiendish ways. The movie’s brooding almost unnecessarily measured pace, however, weighs things down a bit.

After surviving her husband’s death, Frankie attends a support group where she meets Claire (Renee Gagner). The two have met before in passing, yet it is here, in a vulnerable space, that Frankie and Claire open up. It seems that Claire lives under the thumb of her domineering brother Henry (Jack Alberts) and she wants to skip town. Claire offers Frankie 3K to sneak into her own apartment, swipe the keys to her own car that her brother Henry is keeping from her, and to leave the car in a remote location for pick up. Frankie’s financial goal is 10k. From there she can take custody of her daughter and head west from the bleak New Jersey landscape she lives in for a brighter future. On paper this all sounds shady as hell. But in the convoluted logic of GAZER it all seems to make sense. If only she could remember ANYTHING!

GAZER lives in a deliciously tangible world. Shot on grainy 16mm, the film teams with a life that no other medium can replicate. Matheus Bastos‘ photography along with the editing work from Sloan and Jordan Toussaint captures a a bleak world that swings between cold grays and saturated dream tones. I also have to give kudos to composer Steve Matthew Carter‘s sultry, sax-heavy score. It feels like a darker riff on Angelo Badalamenti with a jazzier soul.

As cowriter and star Mastroianni delivers a towering collection of work in this singular film. Aside from the clever story, Mastroianni turns in a relatable performance. As Frankie frantically pieces the past together she hopes to secure a better future. As a reult, we physically feel hopelessness.  Mastroianni‘s performance holds the film together.

Like Nolan’s Memento and Lynch’s Fire Walk With Me, GAZER mercilessly toys with the viewer’s dependence on a narrator that is all but reliable and a world that offers no logic. As Frankie cobbles memories together while processing the present, we are left to patch a logical through line together. It’s a struggle but in this case, we  are given more than an ambiguous ending.

I enjoyed GAZER but it’s far too interested in world building and atmosphere. GAZER dragged with an indulgent pace. That’s great if you love the film so much that you want to live in it. But I was here for the story and performances.