By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I have been interested in THE MANDELA EFFECT (2019) for a very long time. I find the theory to be a compelling one, and there are definitely examples that not only resonate with me, but freak me out a bit.
The one that gets my goat the most is the non-existent flick SHAZAM. I saw that before I started doing weed and my memories about that flick are rock solid so imma don’t know. That scares me! (If you haven’t already, check out my Sinbad SHAZAM movie review here: https://scaredstiffreviews.com/sinbad-shazam-genie-movie-film-review-the-movie-that-never-existed-but-i-cant-forget/ )
If you don’t know what the Mandela Effect is, allow me to give you a quick summary. Shit is changing and we don’t know why. Weird and often innocuous and subtle modifications to song lyrics, brand names, logos, movies and books seem to be occurring. Some peeps remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 80s, but history shows he lived until 2013. Many, including myself, recall there being a dash in Kit Kat (Kit-Kat) candy bars and swear that the Monopoly mascot had a monocle over his eye. I haven’t a clue why these anomalies are occurring, but there are enough solid instances that the easiest and most logical answer of false memories seems to be invalid.
When things in real life get scary, I like to lighten shit up in my mind. I pretend that Nelson Mandela is flying around in an invisible jet fucking shit up just to piss people off. Why an invisible jet? I don’t know. It was cool when Wonder Woman had one.
As fun as my theory is, I admit it is probably not the actual reason why the changes are happening. The more rational theories include accusations towards CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). Some believe CERN fucked with some science shit and caused parallel dimensions to collide. Another theory is that we live in a computer simulation that keeps glitching out. It is this example that THE MANDELA EFFECT (2019) explores.
It begins with Brendan (Charlie Hofheimer), his wife Claire (Aleksa Palladino) and their young daughter Sam (Madeleine McGraw) chilling at the beach on a nice sunny day. Sam has her Curious George doll in hand and is holding it by the tail as she runs to the ocean. She drops it in the water and chases after it, but sadly she drowns. I don’t think George made it either.
Brendan and Claire are both horribly distraught but handle their grief differently. Brendan becomes fixated on small changes he begins noticing. We see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) iconic line “Luke, I am your father” switching to “No, I am your father!” The Berenstein Bears books which Brendan read to his daughter suddenly read The BerenstAin Bears. Curious George is said to never have had the tail that he recalls his daughter holding the monkey by on the day she died. Odder still, a picture he took at one location is now at a completely different vacation spot than what he remembers.
Claire thinks he’s going insane. He confides in his best bud Matt (Robin Lord Taylor) who also thinks he’s banana-pants crazy. Matt tries to sell the false memory narrative, but Brendan isn’t buying it.
Instead, he finds Professor, Dr. Fuchs (Clarke Peters) who believes we live in a computer simulation and thinks that certain examples within The Mandela Effect may be glitches or ramifications of upgrades. Brendan who codes video games believes he can re-code the system and get Sam back.
When he first starts re-coding, he dips back and forth into different simulations. Sam will be alive for a moment only to disappear by the time Brendan goes into the next room. Soon, though she is back for good. All is far from perfect though. Claire begins acting nuts! There are some residual memories attached to her subconscious regarding Sam’s death which sends her into a downward spiral causing her to glitch out.
Soon, more glitches occur and things get super wild.
I won’t spoil the conclusion. It’s predictable, but not in a bad way. It’s fitting and wraps up the story nicely.
I fucking loved this flick. I read a few negative reviews about this, but fuck those cats! This was stellar.
The acting was great, the plot was compelling and the characters had depth and more than anything the theory proposed was a logical one. There wasn’t a moment while watching this that I said, “Come the fuck on!” Nah – the filmmakers were solid at explaining it all.
I don’t know jack about coding. If you sat me in front of a computer screen with codes on it, my reaction would be “DUH!” I’d have no idea where to start or what I was doing. It’s just not my forte. Imma more creative badass gypsy than a techie queen! So when I saw the trailer, I assumed some of the jargon would be over-my-head. I was prepared to say “yeah – whatevs” but instead, they really broke shit down. I understood the concepts and motives behind the coding, the modifications and the ultimate solution of Brendan and the “creator”/master coder.
I can’t suggest this one enough. It’s so fucked up that movies like this which are brilliant end up straight-to-VOD while atrocities like the new BLACK CHRISTMAS (2019) get major releases. Fuck that noise. Put this on the big screen. I’d pay $20 for me and my best friend to watch this in the theater. Do it up, buttercups! Take my money – cuz you’re sure as hell not gonna get it for most of the lame-ass crap you’re trying to force-feed down the throats of moviegoers. Give us some substance. Give us some flare. Give us some goddamn thought-provoking pieces, and we’ll brave the cold and hand you green!
As for THE MANDELA EFFECT (2019), watch this baby. It’s awesome. I hope it generates a sequel. If it doesn’t, I’ll be disappointed – and nothing is sadder than a disappointed Missy.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10
If you wanna, buy my gypsy stuff go here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsySpiritTarot
