A Spark in Nothing

I’ll start by pointing out the biggest problem with A Spark in Nothing—it’s two and a half hours long. The story and performances must stand out in some way to warrant that much of an audience’s time and attention. Only a few elite filmmakers are able to pull that off effectively. Loch is not there yet, and his title desperately needs massive editing — both in the initial script and the final cut.

The other issue is the supporting players. It’s not that the acting was terrible, but the supporting characters had specific quirks, and I didn’t feel like the cast was comfortable performing them. As God, Stevens delivered dialogue written in a neo-classical style that is not easy to recite naturally. She then slips into foreign languages that were equally difficult to pull off, and I felt like she struggled with them. William has a Southern accent that sounded inauthentic and thus came across as fake. I’m not sure the accent was necessary or if it needed to be that strong. The best thing to do with actors is to understand their limitations and adapt to them to perform well. They will thank you for it.

“At no point does this ever feel small.“

There is still good to be found. A Spark in Nothing is an ambitious undertaking for a young filmmaker, and Griffin Loch shows he has what it takes to pull off the complicated nature of a big production. I don’t know what the budget was, but it certainly wasn’t your typical small-budget production shot with handheld cameras and cellphones. Instead, it feels like a professional feature from the lighting, sound, production design, costuming, and even special effects. At no point does this ever feel small.

I liked the story of A Spark in Nothing. The idea that even the insignificant life of James is worth God’s attention, even though she’ll kill him in a year, feels unique and is an exciting premise. The love story between James and Lily feels real and is quite frankly the better of the two paths. Unfortunately, the narrative is too big, and the final product too long. Reigning in these elements would have made Loch’s ambitious feature a much better film in the end.