“From the mind of Devin Hylton,” The Repairman is the writer-director’s feature-length debut. The twisty sci-fi thriller follows Jack (Silvio Wolf Busch), who is a memory repairman. Usually, this means the man is deleting unwanted memories to relieve a person of guilt or some such. But one job puts the family man in grave danger, as the memory involves the murder of a mob turncoat. Jack decides to use this information to his advantage and become a hitman again, hoping to earn enough money to give his daughter a life-saving medical procedure. Little does he know that others have the same information he has, and no one’s memory, even his, can be truly trusted.
The world-building is so vague that the first half of the film is unintentionally confusing. Jack’s wife, Sondra (Kimmy Inez), berates him for not having a job, yet the entire plot centers around the man’s profession. So what gives? The hows and why of memory repair make little sense, meaning how the information is stored and who has access to it (a crucial plot point) are also called into question, and not in the way the filmmaker intends.
“Jack decides to use this information to his advantage and become a hitman again…”
Perhaps The Repairman would make a little more sense if Busch was capable of talking above a whisper at any given moment. But for the entire 91-minute runtime, the actor remains quiet and brooding. Often, in dialogue scenes, especially between Busch and Inez, I had to raise or lower the volume depending on who was speaking. Even with the volume at max, I was still unable to discern everything Busch said, meaning some of those plot details that don’t add up might actually have been addressed but inaudible.
While those are significant issues, there is something fascinating about the film. While faulty memories in sci-fi settings are nothing new, the addition of the killer-for-hire angle is fresh. There’s real emotion behind Jack’s desperate measures to save his daughter. The detective investigating the murder is engaging. The way he insinuates Jack’s involvement in the death makes one question what actually happened and if Jack, or someone else, could completely alter someone’s memory. Tim Miller’s score is also a high point, invoking tension and mystery in every scene.
The Repairman exists in a world that is impenetrable. The lead’s lowkey gravelly intonations don’t exactly help, as he’s not loud enough to be heard. Yet the narrative is filled with enough twists and bends to be interesting. Plus, there’s genuine pathos in how much this father at the center of everything wants to save his daughter. Overall, Hylton proves to be a better director than a screenwriter, but this is still an ambitious and engaging, if flawed, debut.
For more information, visit the official The Repairman Facebook page.
"…an ambitious and engaging, if flawed, debut."
