Writer-director Steve Johnson presents a weighty scenario with his second full-length feature, Convergence. Martin (Jeremy Theobald) is a successful author who is grieving the death of his wife and child. The person who caused his family’s automobile accident is unknown, and this lack of closure is gnawing away at him. He prints out photos from the scene, cuts out newspaper articles about the crash, and drinks away the days. His agent and friend, Robert (Alfie Wellcoat), gets Martin to go to a bereavement meeting; in the hope that it will coax his friend out of his spiral of despair.
There, Martin meets Lily (Nicolette McKeown), a young woman on the run and grieving her unborn child. Lily is trying to hide out from her abusive significant other Dominic (Lee Fanning). Martin agrees to let her stay at his place. A break is made in Martin’s investigation into the death of his wife and child when Lily recognizes one of the unknown persons in a photo. The photo was taken just before his wife got into the car and crashed. Was that the person responsible? Will Martin seek revenge or absolution?
“The person who caused his family’s automobile accident is unknown, and this lack of closure is gnawing away at him…”
Johnson looks at grief not through who was lost but how the loss of loved ones connects people. While Convergence is not the first film to do such a thing, the way it tells its story is wildly original. Throughout the runtime, the film cuts to the Strategist (Marcus Macleod); an elderly gentleman who moves chess pieces all over. Each piece represents one of the major characters. While it is a bit on the nose as far as symbolism goes, it also adds a particular element of intrigue. Seeing how close the pieces (the characters) get before they finally notice each other is an ingenious way to get the audience involved in Martin and Lily’s relationship before they even meet.
"…how the loss of loved ones connects people."
