Told that he only has a few weeks left to live, a terminally ill lawyer searches for a host to receive his memories upon passing away - as per his belief in reincarnation - in this unusual Canadian drama. Although credited on IMDb as a horror film, 'The Reincarnate' is mostly a series of filmed conversations as the lawyer discusses his beliefs and tries to convince a young sculptor to take part in the ritual. The plus side of this is that Jack Creley is intriguing to listen to with his utter calmness about dying and philosophical quips; "there is another life if you remember this one". The minus of this is that the film's take on reincarnation is rather complicated and therefore there is far more talk than action as everything is explained to us. It is not a particularly moody or atmospheric film either and while there is one awesome sequence involving a stray cat crashing through a sky light, more moments like these could have really given the film an edge that it feels like it is missing. Overly complicated though the film's mythology may be, it is still undeniably fascinating and it is interesting throughout as it is hard to predict where exactly the film is going to go with all the reincarnation discussion. The film is topped off with a memorable final scene too, though it is a mystery why anyone thought it was a good idea to tack that cheesy song on as the end credits scroll.
Review of The Reincarnate
