Lapsis is a 2020 American dystopianscience fiction film written, directed, edited, and scored by Noah Hutton. It stars Dean Imperial as a delivery man who turns to quantum cabling, a strange new corner of the gig economy, and faces a pivotal choice to either help his fellow workers or to get rich and get out. It also stars Madeline Wise, Babe Howard, Dora Madison, Ivory Aquino, Frank Wood, James McDaniel, and Arliss Howard.
In a parallel present, delivery man Ray Tincelli is struggling to support himself and his ailing younger brother. After a series of 2-bit hustles and unsuccessful swindles, Ray takes a job in a strange new realm of the gig economy: trekking deep into the forest, pulling cable over miles of terrain to connect large, metal cubes that link together the new quantum trading market. As he gets pulled deeper into the zone, he encounters growing hostility and the threat of robot cablers, and must choose to either help his fellow workers or to get rich and get out.
The production met SAG-AFTRA's diversity incentive by casting two transgender actors, Aquino and Mohseni, playing cisgender characters in major supporting roles.[2]Principal photography lasted 26 days, with 75% of the film taking place in the forest.[3]
Lapsis had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 16, 2020,[4] and was then screened at several film festivals around the world. In August 2020, Film Movement acquired North American distribution rights to the film.[5] It was released in virtual cinemas and on demand and digital platforms in the United States on February 12, 2021.[6]Signature Entertainment released the film on digital platforms in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2021.[7]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 58 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Lapsis binds economic anxiety to an unsettling sci-fi story set in the not-too-distant future, with smartly inventive results."[8]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9]
Dennis Harvey of Variety described the film as "a clever indie political satire of gig-worker economics" and commented, "As the performers maintain a relative poker face, the film's satire is largely a matter of tone and implication. Not the least contributor in that regard is Hutton's own original score, by turns antic and otherworldly."[10]
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times stated, "The narrative eventually loses steam, but the movie's politics remain as low-key as its acting and as basic as its special effects. Lapsis isn't a polemic, it's a caricature, and all the more likable for having its claws sheathed in velvet."[11]
Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times opined, "Lapsis is its own cleverly deadpan curio, with Hutton somehow creating a playground in which Imperial's naturalistic Gandolfini-esque appeal, outspoken critiques of capitalism, and eccentrically menacing toy-like robots can all coexist without too much imagination strain."[12]
Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "B+" and remarked, "Hutton might not entirely stick the landing, but the pleasures of Lapsis extend beyond tidy conclusions and easy answers. Imperial, Wise, and the rest of a game cast never wink at what's happening around them, finding humor and revelations in equal measure."[13]
John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Payment is precarious in a system that's obviously inspired by today's real gig-work arena, allowing Hutton to champion the underclass without seeming strident. Modest but engaging, the film avoids the sterile, placeless vibe that sometimes characterizes speculative tales like this."[14]
Matt Zoller SeitzofRogerEbert.com gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and noted, "Lapsis has done such an outstanding job of cultivating a Kafka-eque or Brazil-like sense of grinding yet hilarious despair that it feels weird and false when we're not in that headspace any longer."[15]
Phil Hoad of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and called it a "sensitive but flawed sci-fi comic dystopia." Hoad also stated, "Lapsis is admirably fired-up film-making, and certainly original, but – like many revolutions – gets bogged down as it fusses over the details."[16]
