A film first VR premiere. Log in to Altspace VR app and have your Oculus headset at the ready for the full experience.
Featuring a film debut from Shane Ward (X Factor winner) this British action / sci-fi / horror is a great antidote to any lockdown malaise. If you’re watching on birdbox.film (championing UK low budget filmmaking) you’ll be engrossed by this budget feature film.
With an all British cast, headed by Shane Ward, who leads a group of mercenaries on a mission in Eastern Europe. The resulting skirmish and melee with its special effects sets the tone, suggesting something’s not quite right.
The unit eventually make it back to the UK headquarters but their problems have only just begun as the film takes a supernatural twist and the past comes back to haunt them. Their only escape a quantum leap in time travel that takes them on a never ending loop back to the future. From here on in you might want to trial a VR headset as the suspense and special effects heighten.
For any UK indie film fan especially of sci-fi and horror this is certainly worthy of a watch. If you allow yourself to get past its various imperfections the story brings you to some challenging moral and philosophical themes that, whilst overly simplified, will stay with you long after the film has finished, even though they may not have quite properly been executed themselves.
Film: The Ascent
Director: Tom Paton
Cast: Shane Ward, Toby Osmond, Sophie Austin
Genre: Sci-fi / Horror
Runtime: 108 mins
Rating: 3/5
The Language of Film 