Coherence

Coherence is one of those low-budget sci-fi films that sneaks up on you. It’s set mostly during a dinner party with a group of friends, and on the night a strange comet passes overhead, weird things start happening: reality begins to fracture, and everyone’s evening spirals into a maze of confusion and paranoia. The premise is simple, but it unfolds in these clever, unpredictable ways that leave you second-guessing what’s real.

What really stood out to me is how the filmmakers wring so much tension and suspense from such a small, everyday setting. The cast feels genuinely natural, partly because much of their dialogue was improvised, which makes the unraveling relationships add an extra layer of discomfort to the sci-fi weirdness. It’s not a movie about flashy effects or explosions—it’s purely about how people would actually react if reality suddenly didn’t add up, and it gets genuinely unnerving.

The downside is that the chaos can get a little overwhelming; in the middle third, things get confusing even for a movie that’s all about confusion. It’s the kind of film where you might want to rewatch or talk it through afterward just to piece everything together. If you like mind-bending stories like Primer or The Invitation (but wish it was a bit more accessible), Coherence is definitely worth a look.