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Review: Volition

How much free will do we have? Can we change our fates, or is everything pre-determined? By staying strong, and focused on the present, are we able to leave the past behind and live free?

These are many of the questions filmmaking duo Tony Dean Smith and Ryan W. Smith ask in their sci-fi flick Volition, which just hit drive-ins, Digital and VOD everywhere. And finding the answers is probably one of the most fun things I've done in front of a screen all year.

Adrian Glynn McMorran is James, a man plagued with clairvoyance, who desperately tries to first save his life, then the life of the woman he loves (Magda Apanowicz) after having visions of their deaths.

Now, this isn't some CGI-heavy romp; Volition is a thinking person's sci-fi tale that relies on good writing and direction, and some spot-on acting, to get the job done. But it's nonetheless exciting and fascinating to watch.

The Smith Brothers put a lot of thought into their script, which becomes apparent the deeper we get into the film, and begin to travel back and forth through time. It's very much in the league of some of the best time-travel movies that way (yes, this does become a time-travel movie), and is certainly a lot of fun to watch as the story unspools.

McMorran and Apanowicz are great together. In fact the whole cast, which includes John Cassini, Frank Cassini and Aleks Paunovic, are all good. And the Smiths give the film a nice visual style without relying on too many camera tricks or MTV editing.

This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, and one of the favourites of the year. It's a Good, and I highly recommend people give it a chance.
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