Beneath all of the psychosis; beneath all of the self-doubt; beneath the lies; and beneath the misery is a simple, but inspiring message – Don’t be afraid to live your life because you never know how much longer you’re going to have it. Something like that, anyways. Very unusual that a film focusing on characters this miserable can be so uplifting, but here it is, and it’s damn fine.
Taking place within a 48-hour period, our main character, Lilli (played by director Jennifer Elster), is preparing for her art show where her paintings will be on display for all to see. Lilli should be excited, and maybe even a little nervous, but as we get to know her more, we find that she’s more disgusted with the idea of showing her work publicly than elated. She doesn’t like people very much and she trusts no one. This is quite possibly due to the crazy upbringing she had, raised by a couple of drug addict parents. She’s disconnected herself from the world, so when Morrison (Gale Harold from “Queer As Folk”) shows up in her life, you’d think the two would be a perfect match. You see, Morrison is a fellow artist, a writer, but he also keeps himself distanced from the world around him, wary of the germs that people spread. But when hanging out, the two end up bumping heads more than getting along, their fears of opening up to another human being prohibiting them from establishing a relationship. If this helping of self-doubt and obsessive compulsiveness isn’t enough for you, it is soon revealed that everyone they know all have a deep, dark secret that is quietly eating them alive.
“Particles of Truth” is quite an intense emotional rollercoaster with standout performances, especially from Elster. One of the more remarkable scenes has Lilli being beaten by some creep in the backroom of a bar with Eddie Rabbit’s “I Love a Rainy Night” blaring over the violence. The performance from Elster and the creep are scary, add Eddie Rabbit to the mix and you’ve got yourself a total nightmare.
This is an excellent first feature from Elster and I look forward to seeing what next she has up her sleeve. Now back in the dump truck filled with meds, these characters need to chill out.
