The Speed of Thought and the Powers of the Mind: A Movie Review

Director/writer: Evan Oppenheimer.

Maya Entertainment has released The Speed of Thought on to DVD April 12th. The film stars Nick Stahl (Mirrors 2), Mia Maestro (Cutthroat), Taryn Manning (The Devil's Tomb) and Wallace Shawn, in a fictional world set in telepathy. The film has some similarities to Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010). The conscious and unconscious parts of the mind are used for governmental espionage, with Joshua Lazarus (Stahl) attempting to uncover the source of a fictional ailment, called Wittman's disease. The result is a thrilling and imaginitive ninety minutes.

Much of the film takes place in a consciously constructed world of the mind. Here, scopers, or those with telepathy, communicate with others like themselves. The fantasy constructs are much like the ones created in Inception, with less attention spent on the grand scale of this earlier production. Instead, dreamscapes are created. Later, the protagonist Lazarus merges with a new mysterious scoper, named Anna (Maestro). The switch from the reality of an espionage and counter-espionage world to one of a fantastical imaginary sphere creates for a complex story-within-a-story design. This artificial construct creates much of excitement.

Scopers have the ability to read minds and to actively persuade "the normals" (Speed) into fulfilling their wishes. This was another theme within Inception, but here the process is fulfilled more naturally, without technology. Soon, agents are being misguided by Lazarus, while he forms a deeper relationship with Anna. Together they form a powerful and persuasive alliance to thwart a controlling governmental agency.

Finally, The Speed of Thought is a convincing look at the fictional world of telepathy. The powers of the characters and their growing abilities create for some early interest and later, other characters are revealed to be much more able, than they seemed earlier in the film. This creates for a tense and imaginative conclusion, which leaves Lazarus protecting a growing brood of the psychically gifted. Think Stephen King's Firestarter, times twenty!

This is a straight-to-DVD production which is a curious time spent in the genre of science fiction or fantasy. Similar to Inception through the use of persuasion and partially set in the subconscious, The Speed of Thought sets itself apart by adding special abilities amongst the scopers e.g. merging, thought blocking. This is a solid watch, which will heighten the imagination of the watcher, while creating some sci-fi enjoyment.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

The Speed of Thought at Maya Entertainment:

Speed of Thought at Maya Entertainment

The Speed of Thought's Homepage:

Speed of Thought Official Website

Available on DVD as of April 12th:



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Posted in: 2011,dvd,espionage,maya entertainment,mia maestro,mind,movie poster,nick stahl,taryn manning,telepathy,the speed of thought,thriller