Deranged
Tales from the Mikeside: Deranged
2023
4/10
This film came up in my tubi recommendations after watching the series ‘Demarcus’.
I watched it last night on the road on tubi.
The film is a psychological thriller revolving around lucid dreams. I went into it thinking it was gonna be something like ‘Inception’, but it barely comes close to that premise.
It’s a slow burn film that runs over 2 hours. About 45 minutes could have been edited down and the film still would make sense. It’s a low-budget Hood film which somewhat brings it down being a number of actors couldn’t act to save their lives.
The premise has been done over the decades, but those projects generally have an all White cast with one ‘Token Black Person’ in it. Being this film generally has an all Black cast, it’s what makes it interesting.
The first 30min is a heavy slow burn introducing the main character with a lot of talk. I was tempted to turn it off, but around the 30min mark, the main character’s wife makes a couple of comments which got me back interested in the film.
From there, the film continues into a real slow burn. There is a twist around the last 30 minutes of the film which somewhat saves the film and makes the earlier parts of the film make sense. Without spoiling it, the twist is somewhat revealed during the point you see in the trailer with the blonde in the red leotard.
Like I stated earlier, it’s a Hood film. It probably would have been better if it had a decent budget and better actors. If you looking for projects made by Blacks and primarily starring Blacks, you will enjoy it.
Synopsis
A dream researcher finds worlds of trouble when he gets lost in his own experiments. Based on true events.
