Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: KRYPTIC [Fantasia Film Festival 2024 - Montreal, Quebec]
The idea of a circular path along a straight line has always been a percolation of genre. “Kryptic” [Quebec Premiere/Septentrion Shadows], directed by Kourtney Roy, understands that her lead in Kay is the summary of many different parts working together to create a link. The link of course is the metaphor. The MacGuffin of the movie itself is a bit elusive in what it is truly trying to be but it is enough of a commentary on the world that its meaning comes through. Chloe Pirrie takes on the role of Kay with an interesting chameleon-like context. In a similar way to Rebecca Hall in “The Night House” (which also played Sundance like “Kryptic” albeit years apart),
“Kryptic” is also about the context of memory and what we are trained and/or brainwashed to do. Kay is lost and yet she is not. The crucial people she encounters are in the crux of areas from her past lives to off the grid sorts that sort of revel in their de or emasculation until it simply burns over to a boiling point. One reflective scene is of course the pay off but it always helps to know where it started. “Kryptic” can be meandering but it does so intentionally with a sense of purpose to throw off the audience wit a flick of the wrist. Kay never seems truly lost…just curious despite the mystery she is thrown into. B+
By Tim Wassberg
