Karmalink Review: Fresh, Beautiful Sci-Fi Blends Time Travel & Spiritualism

screenrant.com:

Karmalink combines spiritualism and technology with a grim kid's adventure film with a fine-tuned production value. Writer-director Jake Wachtel (The Foreigner) — who co-wrote the script with Christopher Larsen — has made a great-looking movie with a distinct genre-bending narrative. Though the dialogue routinely comes up short in big moments when the film attempts to get too heady, the story is bold enough to keep one invested. The performances are all very likable and every line is delivered with earnestness. For a film set in the near future, both the style and execution are seamless and complement the sets perfectly.

In a futuristic Cambodia, augmented nanotech offers limitless possibilities to those who can afford it. In soon-to-be gentrified Phnom Penh, long-time residents of the capital city are fighting to keep their homes. Among the resident's youth are two unlikely new friends, Leng Heng (Leng Heng Prak) and Srey Leak (Srey Leak Chhith). Leng Heng has dreams of a different life and knows nanotech can get him closer to unlocking the mysteries of a lost treasure. Srey Leak is down on her luck and is eager to fine-tune the machinery needed to pair with his information. The creator of the tech, Dr. Vattanak Sovann (Sahajak Boonthanakit) aims to push the limits of what it means to connect with your past. When Leng Heng and Srey Leak encounter his disciple, the rules of reality and time begin to bend uncontrollably.

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The visual effects in Karmalink are superb. The displays that pop up when people use nanotech and the visuals on the iPads that track brain function while people are using them are nothing to write home about. But the overall