Astral

A detached university student faces the consequences of astral projection when he uses it to reconnect with his dead mother.

Dr. James Lefler (Mark Aiken) approaches his patient Claire (Catherine Steadman) as she sits in the psych ward, staring out a window. They exchange words and the good doctor assures her she is better. We cut to Catherine at home with her young son Alex and her husband Joel (Darwin Shaw). Things seem fine, yet there is a creepy placidity to Claire. We soon find out why as a tragedy closes our pre-title cold open and our movie begins. Astral is a new, cerebral horror pic from Chris and Michael Mul that dives into the dangers of Astral projection and contact with realms beyond our own. It flirts with themes of multi-dimensional exploration as a metaphor for mental illness. A tantalizing idea to be sure, yet Astral doesn’t know how to handle the ingredients in an original way once they are presented, leaving us with an only lightly intriguing supernatural thriller.

“…student faces the consequences of astral projection when he uses it to reconnect with his dead mother.”

After the jarring-in-a-good-way opening, we return to the story years into the future and young Alex (Frank Dillane) is at University now. Shielded from what actually happened to his mother he has no closure on the matter. He and his colleagues sit entranced during a lecture on perception and the world we perceive around us. Could it actually be possible to meditate and travel outside of the body, to project and explore our material world? Despite the warnings from his professor, friends, and flatmates, Alex decides he fancies a trip without his mortal coil and begins attempting Astral projection.