Synchronic (4 Stars)

This is the eighth film in the Stuttgart White Nights Festival.

What's with all the films about drugs at this year's White Nights Festival?

Steve and Dennis are two paramedics in New Orleans. It's not a pleasant job. Most of their call outs are to help people suffering from drug overdoses. A new designer drug called Synchronic is causing particular problems. It hasn't yet been outlawed, but when it's taken at parties extreme violence breaks out, combined with strange happenings. For instance, people are found dead with their heads cut open by swords. Dennis' daughter Brianna takes Synchronic, walks into another room and is never seen again.

Dennis is a family man, but Steve is single. He's always been close to Brianna, and he sees himself as a father figure, so he wants to find her. His first step is to try Synchronic himself. It's a trip to end all trips. After taking a tablet he's in a swamp fleeing from alligators. Seven minutes later he wakes up in his room, shaking and confused, but something has happened. His clothes are wet and he has weeds on his shoes.

This is a great science fiction thriller. Some of the plot devices seemed illogical, but maybe that's because I didn't understand them on first viewing. It's a complex, mind-bending story that I want to watch again.