Conspiracy theory nut Adam lives a lonely existence in his London flat with his cat, communicating really with only one person, a woman in San Francisco he’s formed a cyber-relationship with. So, yeah, Adam spends plenty of time parked in front of the computer screen, talking to his woman who he’s never met and cruising conspiracy theory web barf. But that all comes to an end when he passes out one evening only to wake up in Mexico in a bathtub filled with his own blood and a large stitched scar running along his back from where his kidney was taken. Sound like a web-surfing inspired nightmare? Yeah, it could be, because Adam awakens back at home. Problem is, he feels like s**t and that large scar is still on his back. Bigger problem is that, when he reports to work, they tell him that he’s been gone for a week when Adam recalls being there just the day before. And so begins Adam’s freaky “Jacob’s Ladder” like nightmare as he suffers from repeated blackouts, always waking up somewhere new. He even makes it to San Francisco at one point and hooks up with his cyber-sweetie, not that this was a good time for love, Dr. Jones, as Adam is convinced he’s caught in the middle of some sort of conspiracy dealing with deadly pharmaceuticals and teeth yanking aliens.
Before watching “EMR,” one should prepare themselves for a bad case of whiplash as you’re going to get jerked around a whole lot with Adam being ricocheted from one corner of the world to another and with nobody really knowing what the hell is going on, including you. Have you ever seen an episode of “Freddy’s Nightmares?” It was a short lived television show based on “A Nightmare on Elm Street” that had little to do with Freddy Krueger himself, but rather each episode focused on a single character going through his own personal hell as they wake up again and again from a neverending nightmare that sees their lives being twisted and turned and ran around in circles, not really doing much to further a story, but providing ample opportunity for weird, freaky s**t to go down. That’s what “EMR” is like, just better made.
So for those who are down for jerky rides like this one, “EMR” should not disappoint. Otherwise, the film may end up feeling too long. I know for myself, always ready for some jerky action, I even felt that I had had enough and was exhausted by the film’s mid-point. But I stuck it out and made it to the finish line and to a marginally satisfactory payoff. Honestly, I was glad that there was any payoff at all. Sat through too many of these things only to be kicked in the balls at the end, so the fact that this one wraps up nicely is much appreciated.
