Review: Lapsis

One of the trickiest problems facing movie-makers today is finding ways to depict on screen the ever-growing segment of our lives that take place on screen. Even showing people texting in a movie is often clumsy; how do you create a modern workplace drama when most workplaces are a corner office in someone's house?

So it's a big thumbs up to first-time writer / director Noah Hutton for coming up with the concept of "cabling" a pointless drudge of a job-slash-scam that's both a spot-on metaphor for a growing number of "real" jobs and something that's actually interesting to watch take place on screen. Lapsis might not be the kind of science fiction a lot of audiences expect - though there are robots, and they are evil - but as a window on the world today it's got a lot of big budget blockbusters beat.

New Jersey delivery man Ray Tincelli (Dean Imperial) is struggling. He can barely afford the new-fangled quantum computer he needs to keep up with the street parking schedules; with brother Jamie (Babe Howard) stuck on the couch with chronic disease Omnia and a day job that's shaky at best, he needs to start doing some serious earning.

Becoming a "cabler" - someone who roams the upstate wilderness physically laying cable between quantum computing nodes so Wall Street can cash in on the new routes - seems like easy money. And maybe if Ray didn't get his cabling medallion from a shady acquaintance clearly up to no good, it would be. But as Ray blunders his way through the bustling but struggling cabling community, it's increasingly clear that he's in over his head in more ways than one. Will Anna (Madaline Wise) be the one to guide him out of the woods? And who was the former owner of his medallion "Lapsis Beefcake" anyway?

Lapsis is probably best enjoyed as a hang out session with the likable Ray, as Imperial's performance is the one consistent element that holds this all together. Hutton has a lot of good ideas and plenty of scenes and sequences work well, but there's a grab-bag feel here that's not uncommon in first films. The plot keeps twisting and adding layers long after it should have settled down for the run home, while some of the earlier elements, while fun in themselves, end up not adding up to much.

The central concept of cabling as a job is easily the most interesting idea here, especially once it's revealed that the human cablers have to compete with small cable-laying robots that will steal their routes and (if they finish laying first) take their money. The world built up around it, with trade expos and feral child gangs, is both inventive and intriguing; while the early scenes are solid, the film doesn't come to life until Ray hits the trail.

For all its spark, this ends up not having a whole lot to say about the gig economy: to be fair, providing a physical metaphor for online work and exploring its ramifications is more than enough. Ironically, while the setting is the big draw it's the character work that's probably the most assured thing about this film; both Ray and Anna are fully realised, very distinct characters, and it's their evolving relationship that's some small consolation in a world dominated by tech giants and the scammers who thrive in the cracks.

 

- Anthony Morris