“Don’t puke in my brain.”
A few words that were cemented in my head after going through the wild ride that is Me Myself & The Void. Before you ask how literal the phrase is, you should prepare for the experience that is Timothy Hautekiet‘s slick fantasy comedy. It’s clever in executing its broad genre of comedy in such a restrained story. What’s important is that while it does take place in an indie setting of limited budgets, Me Myself & The Void is more proof that independent cinema is catching up, and sometimes going past the prominent ones is a matter of intelligent screenwriting.
In the film, Jack is a standup comedian who gets himself in a bit of a pickle. Jack finds himself in a void where physics is a mere suggestion. Along him stands a good friend, who doesn’t exactly lead him through the process. Not much explanation is given about Chris’ presence, but it’s a pretty valuable conversation factor in a film that needs a lot of those. If this were about Jack speaking to himself, it probably wouldn’t have worked the same way.
Jack realizes that, in the real world, he’s unconscious. He’s knocked out on the floor of his bathroom, and there’s no way he can tell himself to wake up. The Jack in the void tries to find some answers, but neither he or Chris can find any. Slowly, they begin to realize that the solution may be in the past, where Jack hasn’t been a great guy in relationships.
That’s when Me Myself & The Void really begins. When it progresses towards drama with a coming-of-age trigger that goes by smoothly due to Jack and Chris’ great chemistry on screen. The film’s turning point comes when Mia, who Jack had a relationship with before, enters the picture and begins tilting the man’s conciousness in all sorts of directions.
The film’s most honest moment comes at the end when Mia spews out some truths to Jack and this becomes a spark in his literal awakening. Hautekiet and Nik Oldershaw’s script doesn’t usually call for drama, but I felt truly connected to the very disturbed individual when someone else made him realize that his thoughts weren’t the best. This could also have to do with Kelly Marie Tran’s short but great performance.
The production design is admirable, considering it stands as a backdrop of a world without rules. Things change when necessary and when the plot requires it. But one important thing is that Me Myself & The Void never feels like a cheap movie with a complicated storyline. On the contrary, it’s a high-profile comedy with the ability to bring out a few smiles and some tears. All through the realization of a compelling character who, through death, found that changes are sometimes needed to make your life, and that of others, a little better. Yes, even if it involves the most outrageous out-of-body experience you can think of.
Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.
