J.G. Clarke makes his directorial and writing debut with Numbered Lives. The thriller begins with Noah (Matthew O’Sullivan) sneaking out of his sister’s room, much to chagrin. Gracie (Eilana McMillan) chastises her older brother for leaving to hang out with friends their parents disapprove of. Unfortunately, the very sick sibling turns out to be correct, as the friends leave Noah during a robbery turned violent he had little to do with. Despite so much evidence in his favor, including the fact that Noah helped save the cashier’s life, the judge harshly sentences the young man.
At the prison, Noah is made to “hang himself” by the guards, only to wake up in a mysterious facility. There, Noah is an orderly who must listen to what those in charge say or become a corpse. While all that is going on, Dr. Andrew (Lindsay Dunn) discovers discrepancies in a medical trial report involving specific patients. As the well-meaning doctor searches for the truth, company administers Edgar (Jeremy Piven) and Olivia (Sarika Young) try to thwart him. What are they afraid he’ll discover, and how does it tie into the mysterious facility Noah is held in?
Numbered Lives has piss poor characterizations. No character has more than two traits, including Noah and the main prison guard, Henry (Benjamin Balte). This makes it hard to root or, like anyone, understand their motivations. Well, Edgar is excluded as he’s just a greedy bastard. The ending tries to pull at the heartstrings via extremely well-edited flashbacks, but there’s not enough build-up to make it land properly.
“…Noah is made to ‘hang himself’ by the guards, only to wake up in a mysterious facility.”
Mind you that is not the fault of the cast. O’Sullivan is compelling as the innocently tragic lead. Balte is unbelievably fantastic as the intense and crazy guard. Piven downplays his comedic sensibilities to go hard on the drama and thriller aspect, and it works. Dunn excels as the concerned doctor searching for the truth.
Beyond the cast, Numbered Lives has a lot going for it. The directing is top-notch, and the lighting oozes the atmosphere. Clarke makes each scene feel claustrophobic. The “suicide” moment is dangerous and intense. The editing is just as good, especially considering the number of storylines that have to converge at the end. The plot never gets confusing or hard to follow, thanks to Cleland Jones and his impressive editing.
The technical side of Numbered Lives is immaculate. The thriller looks brilliant, and the cast stuns. The pacing is crisp, and the final scene is an interesting button. However, the characterizations are almost nonexistent, making it a little tricky to entirely invest in everything happening.
"…the cast stuns."
