Distant Tales, a dark, four-part dramatic anthology from playwright and screenwriter writer/director Shem Bitterman (Halloween 5, 1989), had a two-month exclusive run via Cable TV OnDemand with Xfinity, Spectrum, and Contour, then on iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon.com. It is now available on December 12 as a Blu-Ray release on Amazon.com. Distant Tales is set in a dystopic future about four individual’s lives when people can no longer meet face to face. Sci-fi/horror fans will enjoy the psychological horror elements of the stories as the audience sees how isolation and loneliness affect the characters. I am impressed with some of the performances of various actors who authentically look like they are having an absolute breakdown.
The stories are “Placebo,” “Please Log On,” “Touch,” and “R Nought,” which show activities “on screen” as they try to connect via technology where they hide the reality of their lives. The stories explore how the new means of communication coupled with social isolation create opportunities for manipulation, lies masquerading as truth, incomplete pictures, and unexpected connections. The stories were filmed in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLACEBO – A test subject for a new vaccine (Amen Igbinosun, “Texas Rising”) falls in love with his trial administrator (Carolyn Michelle Smith, Netflix’s “Russian Doll”) throughout the study during their virtual check-ins. (Also stars Chantal Nchako, “Madam Secretary,” ” The Mad Whale”).
PLEASE LOG ON – A lonely and isolated woman (Liz Fenning, “Ghost Story”) struggles to make a connection with a desperate job hunter Rohit (Rupak Ginn, “Royal Pains”) over a timed video call observed by an absent, mysterious, and menacing boss.
TOUCH – A dark, psychosexual horror story, the affair between two co-workers (Tiffany Wolff (“Escape Artist”) and Samuel Martin Lewis (“Murder In The Heartland”)) is cut short after a single night only to be resumed online at 4 AM, in their apartment where secret dangers lie. (Also stars Alaska Jackson, “Chronicles of Eve and Big P”)
R NOUGHT – A disgraced talk show host (Christopher Curry, Sully, Flags Of Our Fathers) attempts to lure a grieving Navy officer (Ben Bowen, “Double Date”) into a vast right-wing plot to bring down the government. At the same time, his stepmother (Megan Gallagher, “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Millennium”) tries to get him to focus on his son.
Oscar-winner Tom Schulman (Dead Poet’s Society) serves as executive producer.
The film is on Blu-ray December 12 and will be available on additional streaming platforms later in December.
Source: Films with Friends