A Gunshot Changes the World for 2 Youths in ‘8:37 Rebirth Me’ (Movie Review)
8:37 Rebirth
Rating: 7/10
Director: Juanita Peters
Writers: Joseph LeClair, Hank White
Style: Crime, Family Drama
Time: 100 minutes
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/602041604
Review by Mike Szymanski
We all know something like this can happen: There’s a moment that changes things in your life forever, and can set you off in a direction you have never expected. This movie is a fascinating exploration of that reality.
A moment in time affects the lives of two youths in “8:37 Rebirth” and it happens at 8:37 pm.
Jared, a high schooler who just got beat up by two bullies, walks into a convenience store all bloody. The bullies have run away and dropped a gun as they flee, and Jared decides to rob the store at the last minute.
Then there is Sergei, who is helping his father run a convenience store.
Jared shoots Sergei’s father in front of him, but says it was an accident. There’s a reason why Jared has pulled the trigger, but it’s not something that gets explained until they meet again 22 years later.
In 22 years, Jared gets out of prison after fulfilling his entire sentence. He never tried to get parole, even though he is told by officials that he could have been released earlier. He feels he needed to pay for his crime.
In 22 years, Sergei has a strained relationship with his wife, and has a brilliant young son. Sergei is a mathematics whiz working on a complex formula he is drawing on multiple chalkboards in his garage. When Sergei discovers that Jared is released from jail, he is obsessed that the criminal will come to harm his family, and he becomes delusional by thinking that everyone nearby is Jared in disguise.
This movie focuses on the dangers of obsessing on that one moment where two lives have gone in different directions, and how that obsession can result in disaster. The movie is intriguing, gripping and keeps you guessing even after the end.
The end for me, however, is a bit problematic, because it’s not clear exactly what happens, and it’s up to the viewer to decide. But for many viewers, that will be the perfect conclusion, in another split-second decision that will change their lives again forever.
Sergei is a Turkish math instructor adeptly played with high intensity by Pasha Ebrahimi. His characterization shows this protective father as a tender, but passionate man, who will do anything to project his family. Not surprising, he has been honored with several acting awards already for this role at the film festival circuit.
Jared is played by Glen Gould, also honored for his portrayal of the reluctant criminal who has hidden away his artistic talents as he tries to figure out if he is in fact rehabilitated. Both actors are very deserving of their honors, with no doubt more to come.
And, not surprising, director Juanita Peters is equally honored at festivals, especially for showing a sensitive portrayal of a crime that could have easily become a macho shoot-em-up revenge plot, but is handled in an overly sensitive and stylistic way.
You are not sure at first what is fact and what is fiction. What is delusion, and what is misplaced memory? And ultimately, what is right and what is wrong.
Sergei and his son are shown having fun doing math problems (imagine that) when his wife Nora (played by an amazing Amy Trefry) finds them and teases them for being so smart. This fun-loving family though, carries some dark secrets that very obviously bother Sergei in every part of his life.
The mathematical formula on the chalkboards includes the numbers 837 because that’s the time of the murder of his father, and Sergei is trying to recreate the scene with mathematical precision to see if he could have made the outcomes differently. It’s a complex and brilliant idea, which leads to a countdown in time that ticks to an unnerving conclusion.
Through the help of a sympathetic detective who originally worked on the case, Sergei finds where Jared is living at 1515 Sebastian Lane and becomes an unintentional stalker, who is also afraid of being stalked. The detective even pays Jared a mean-spirited visit to warn him to stay away from Sergei and his family. The detective spills red paint on the floor on purpose to recreate the bloody scene of the crime that Jared created.
Jared desperately attempts to create a new life, trying to get back together with his wife Shelley (Joanne Miller) who has already moved on and is trying to divorce him. He explores his painting of Native American figures and drawings that his art teacher finds fascinating.
The movie was filmed in Nova Scotia, and the Canadian flare resonates throughout the storyline.
The audience will witness the unraveling of a family man who feels compelled to confront the guy who changed his life, and watch his downward spiral to the point that he is frothing at the mouth. You become fearful of Sergei, as his wife and son are.
The movie doesn’t have any recognizable names, and that’s for good reason. Each actor is well-balanced for their roles, and no character is one-dimensional thanks to the even-handed directing and capable cast.
Director Peters is a Woman of the Year from the Canadian Association for Filmmakers, and is known for her career in Canadian TV and film for decades.
Even before its original release, as mentioned before, this movie already won many accolades, including Best Director at the Montreal Independent Film Festival and Pinnacle Awards, and Best Actor at many other film festivals, and Best Feature in London, Paris and Cannes.
The film debut was in September 2021 at the Atlantic International Film Festival. The North American debut is set for Canadian television towards the end of 2022 with a U.S. theater run afterwards.
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