NAKED SINGULARITY: A Blend Of Genres That Never Quite Comes Together

Naked Singularity adapted by Chase Palmer from Sergio De La Pava‘s novel A Naked Singularity, follows an idealistic public defender Casi (John Boyega) as he decides to fight the justice system as he experiences signs of the universe on its way to total collapse. Casi along with his friend Dane (Bill Skarsgård) and Lea (Olivia Cooke), a woman he helped years ago who comes back into his life, orchestrate a plan to provide real justice rather than what the legal system can provide.

Mixing Genres

Naked Singularity aims to fully realize the novel by peppering in moments of Casi seeing the universe begin to collapse and exposition to this aspect of the story provided by his neighbor Angus (Tim Blake Nelson). This aspect of the film is not explored much and feels like it leads nowhere except representing a metaphor that the American justice system is a black hole.

By including moments of Angus explaining the science and sharing his theory that the blackouts around the city are being caused by the upcoming collapse of the universe makes the surreal moments Casi faces seem like they are leading somewhere.

This takes the surreal power away from these glimpses of collapse. We view them as real and connected to the countdown to the collapse displayed like chapters throughout the film. If this explanation was kept to a minimum or was not combined with the on-screen countdown, these moments such as a broken temperature clock and Casi floating in the air might have been able to come across as surreal manifestations of his subconscious. But instead, they become science fiction moments that never lead to anything within the story.

The only other time this aspect of the story is explored comes in the form of Dane discussing the multiverse with Casi as a way of saying they should go forward with their heist because they don’t want to be the version of themselves that didn’t do it.

Another detail that seems out-of-place comes from the criminal Craig who plans to steal an impounded car containing a drug shipment. He tries to get Lea to give him the keys to the car and when that doesn’t work, the two-match on tinder which leads to a short scene of him using her computer.

This could have been the start of something important between the characters, but all we learn at this moment is that Craig is a conspiracy theorist that thinks the royal family is reptilian aliens. This detail of his personality is only mentioned one other time in a quick joke.

Naked Singularity does not mix its genres together well enough and creates a film that seemingly loses the thread of both genres. The pacing feels slow, and this is an 86 minute adaptation of a 690-page book. The film might be more engaging if it was longer and explored more of its source, but even within its short runtime, there was potential to fit in more story and character development.

Performances

John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, and Bill Skarsgård work well together and add life to the film through their interactions, especially the further we get into the film and the more heist-related the action becomes.

Skarsgård has a frantic charm and provides a sort of comic relief mixed with exposition. He comes into the film when Casi needs to know new information or needs to be pushed to action. These moments, even being filled with expositional information, come across as some of the most lively scenes in the film, and this comes from the strength of Skarsgård‘s quick and smooth delivery.

In an especially memorable moment, Casi and Dane have a pretty information-heavy conversation, but they are wrestling throughout the entire scene. There’s something exciting about keeping track of their words with the actions, and the dynamic of their friendship comes across well here.

Boyega‘s scenes opposite Linda Lavin‘s Judge Cymbeline also showcase their talents, but the exchanges are focused more on how much can the judge and public defender annoy each other. Occasionally these moments allow for speeches from Casi expressing detailed examples of what is wrong with the justice system. Boyega and Lavin‘s performances are great here and they play wonderfully off each other, but I hoped for more specific and emotional moments between Casi and his clients breaking off from these exchanges.

Olivia Cooke gives a memorable performance that twists and turns depending on which other characters Lea is around, offering insight into her character and the life she lives.

Structure of Its Multiple Stories

Naked Singularity wants to explore its metaphor about the American justice system and the heist half of the story, but this often becomes muddled and does not leave enough time to explore either element fully. The heist story becomes the main focus near the end of the film, which both energizes the film, but also feels like they needed to wrap up and forgot the heist and its complications needed resolution.

This left a small amount of the film to tie up all aspects of this storyline, leaving not much room to explore any other aspect of the film. Surreal moments would have been appreciated in this finale to connect the various elements of the film together. The multiverse and science elements of the film feel like they have no conclusion, even one suggesting another interpretation or reinforcing their metaphorical significance.

Conclusion

Naked Singularity tries to connect the legal and science-fiction elements of its story but ends up not quite capturing either aspect of the film, but the performances – especially from John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, and Bill Skarsgård – bring much-needed energy to the film.

Have you seen Naked Singularity? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Naked Singularity releases August 6th in theaters and August 13th on VOD. 

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