While browsing Youtube, I found this movie in a list of under-rated sci-fi gems on Prime. It was described as a low-budget modern Lovecraftian tale and they had me at that. Overall, it is a slow brooding movie, with very subtle and weird events that don’t go entirely explained. Warning, spoilers ahead.
You are initially introduced to Justin and Aaron Smith (played by the producers/directors, I think), brothers who receive a video cassette from a group they belonged to as young children called Camp Arcadia – a kind of cult-like group. Justin “saved” his brother from this group 10 years ago. However, since then, they have had a hard time getting a job and making friends. There is this sense of disconnection with the real world with them and both are seeing a de-programming therapist to help.
The two seem to have two different understandings of what Camp Arcadia was – Aaron recalls them as a harmless and friendly commune while Justin says it was a UFO doomsday cult like Heaven’s Gate – using terms like ascension as another word for death . The video tape is an accounting of a cult member that appears to be recent and Aaron believes this proves they are alive. They agree to return for just one day and one night.
They head to Camp Arcadia in the backwoods outside of whatever city they live in (probably somewhere in California) and pass by a memorial that is apparently where their mother died in a wreck. I found that to be an odd coincidence but that does play in the plot a little later. Also near the memorial is one of many natural protrusions sticking out of the ground that Justin says is some kind of weird volcanic phenomenon. They look like this bulbous walking sticks made of stone. They were odd but kind of creepy at the same time. There were many more later in the movie.
They receive a friendly but creepy welcome when they arrive, initially meeting this one guy that apparently does not talk and always smiles (something about a head injury). The first thing that is implied when they arrive is that the people have not changed in 10 years. The cultists include Anna – a girl in an apparent flexible relationship – and Lizzy – a strange escapee from an asylum that got drawn into the cult after escaping (can’t get anymore Lovecraftian than that.) These two in particular take an interest in the brothers. Anna has an interest in smoking a local drug called “the flower” while Lizzy draws foreboding sketches of a massive entity watching over them.
One of the members, Hal is working on some kind of physics equation and shows Justin, telling him he would not understand. He cannot explain it – to do so would be like describing an “impossible color“. Again, more Lovecraftian references, making me think of the Color Out of Space. But he describes it as what he is there for – his thing or his “it.” This is later revealed as a solution to all that is going on – perhaps a way out.
As time goes on, Aaron grows increasingly fond of the camp, You get a strange sense more is going on then they are letting on but Justin is convinced to stay an additional day. That night, during one activity called tug-of-war, individual members one at a time, attempt to win by pulling on a rope that ascends into the night sky. It was rather disturbing seeing that rope go up into the darkness and pull at people, like some unknown entity was toying with them like a pet. Justin believed that it is held by a member on a ladder, however when he tries, he is unexplainably pulled to the ground.
The next day, while exploring the woods, Justin seems to encounter some kind of invisible entity. Like a couple of times before, this entity leaves something behind as a message – this time polaroid photographs of a buoy in the middle of the lake nearby. Through out his walk, we find many more of those stick-like things. At one point, the camera pans out to a safari-like tent where all you hear is a men scream over and over again, music playing in a loop and a clock ticking back in time every 5 seconds. This gives you the first clue that something timey-whimey is going on.
Obviously, Justin is a little freaked out while his brother is cozying up to everyone, planning on staying. When Justin confronts him, Hal admits that he doesn’t know any more than Justin does but also implies that he believes his equation could be the key to what is happening. He says everyone must find their own answers including Justin. He pushes Justin to follow the entity’s clues – the polaroid’s.
Another creepy aspect throughout this movie is the clues left behind – video tapes, polaroids, old film projectors, and old hard drives. Somehow despite being in water or buried in the ground, the electronic items work. The use of old technology is very creepy but also a key later. Finding an entire room of this old tech, some labelled with dates while others with question marks for dates also clues in that there is something time related involved.
More weird stuff starts to happen – two moons rise in the sky, a massive circle of those sticks seems to create a barrier into another reality, and a woman who is not part of the cult appears seeking out her missing husband. Hal says that two moons bring the truth, and three moons signify the ascension and Justin must come to a conclusion before a third moon rises. The next day, Aaron and Justin see the buoy from the photograph on the lake and Justin dives under it, only to pop back up soon after with a toolbox containing a video tape, screaming that something grabbed him under the water.
Things go crazy after that. Justin wants to leave and of course, Aaron wants to stay. Justin goes off looking for Aaron after the car fails to start and encounters several people stuck in time loops – some of which attempt to kill themselves to get out of the loop. This does not work. Through these encounters, he learns more about this entity and how this whole area is it’s playground, toying with all the humans trapped in it’s will. These people are living forever in this mind-bending zone of multiple time loops. Everything comes to a crescendo when the third full moon appears and the loops start again.
I want further down a rabbit hole after looking at this movie in IMDB. This is the middle movie of a trilogy of movies in a shared universe. The first is called Resolution and the final one has some A-List actors like Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, called Synchronic. While they are related, they are not direct sequels. But from an TTRPG stand point, I am focusing on this movie alone.
This whole movie can be a single adventure. It can be structured using the BASIC/PUSH/PULL/GIMMICK/ENIGMA model. This could be in just about any setting – Fantasy, Modern or Historical Horror or Sci-fi. In general, it is a horror adventure, but it can be put in just about any setting.
BASICS
There is some kind of doomsday cult in a remote location. In a Modern/Historical Horror or Fantasy setting, it could be the mountains or a remote island. In sci-fi, it could be a space station or remote planet. There is a lot of misinformation being circulated about it – strange practices, rituals and symbols. Anything from self mutilation to human sacrifice. This creates a sense of mystery and dread about this group.
PUSH
Characters are given a reason to investigate the doomsday cult. A few examples – Someone they know joined; someone hires them to get a family member out; a local land owner or business man wants the cult off his property
PULL
Upon arrival, the cult seems like a normal group of people. Some of the information about them doesn’t add up however – they look younger than they should be based on information the PCs got, they seem unaware of outside events, and completely unaware of how much time has passed since certain events.
The players, over the time, begin to experience individual and group encounter that further create an air of mystery and strangeness around the cult. The catch to this is not give away too much. Bounce between subtle time loop clues and general entity clues. If you use the sticks, give them a strange aura of energy that is unidentifiable. Introduce random teleportation between sticks, for example. Always give the players a sense of being watched.
The encounter with the cult leader and his equation could be pretty important. It can be anything. It doesn’t have to be an equation – a spell, a puzzle, anything like that. But a vail of crazy and obscurity has to be cast on it. Timing of this reveal is also important. Knowing that there is some kind of timey-whimey thing going on ahead of time will definitely signal to the group that this is the solution. If they only see things as just a little weird, then this is just another weird thing.
GIMMICK
The gimmick can be just like the movie – some strange entity is using the sticks to amplify his power over time and space to play with the humans trapped in his domain. It could be more than that or just as simple as that. You can add in sinister plots like a cosmic ritual in play or opposing god-like forces. It could be that this is how the entity gets it’s power – by the fear and dread it creates or the energy expended in the time loops is fueling something more sinister.
But it comes down to a time loop trap that the humans are stuck in, how they get out and what is stopping them from doing so. Some cultists know exactly what it is and wish to stop the players, others could be easily possessed by the entity and fight to stop the players. There could be horrible extra-worldly horrors that act as minions to the entity.
It is a tricky adventure, especially dealing with time loops and stuff. The contained locale really creates a claustrophobic sense. In the movie, the sticks create portals as well as a shield to contain people. I prefer to keep it as portals and as soon as they think they are leaving one area, the cross a stick and end up somewhere in the place they thought they were leaving. Create confusion and this may end up splitting the party (usually a big no-no).
Even though the movie itself was a little slow and a little disjointed in it’s story telling, it was a pretty cool concept. Now that I have gone down the rabbit hole that is this universe, I do plan on seeing the other movies associated to it. Maybe even write about them.