Every Time I Die

Stars: Drew Fonteiro, Marc Menchaca, Tyler Dash White, Melissa Macedo, Michelle Macedo, Kenneth Moronta

Director: Robi Michael

This is an intriguing and quite inventive idea, but its impact is somewhat blurred by the treatment and direction. Unsurprisingly, the film has polarised opinion on the IMDb, as reasons for liking and disliking it are, in a way, equally persuasive.

In a dark and slow opening, the action, such as it is, focuses on paramedic Sam (Fonteiro) who is sleeping with a friend's wife Mia (Melissa Macedo), but suffering from blinding blackouts that result him waking up in different surroundings. He is also pursued everywhere by a child's box containing photographs that remind him of a childhood tragedy when his younger sister drowned.

Invited to a lakeside cabin by fellow workers Jay (Menchaca) and Tyler (Dash White), with whose wife he's been having the affair, Sam is caught kissing Mia by Tyler, and pursued, even as he drives away, by the vengeful husband, who corners and kills him. But Sam's soul starts to transport itself into the bodies of others and this is where things start to get really weird.

I'm not sure about the wisdom of casting twin actresses as the two wives involved - it's confusing and adds nothing to the plot - but still this is a fun idea which, despite a hard-driving performance from Dash White as the short-fused villain, could have done with a snappier and more professional approach.

David Quinlan

USA 2018. UK Distributor: Lightbulb. Colour by Gumbo.
98 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 25 Oct 2020