The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
  • Full Issues 
  • Reviews 
  • Features 
  • OUR TEAM
  • Info.
    • OUR TEAM
  • Content
    • Full Issues 
      • Issue #01
      • Issue #02
      • Issue #03
      • Issue #04
      • Issue #05
      • Issue #06
      • Issue #07
      • Issue #08
      • Issue #09
      • Issue #10
      • Issue #11
      • Issue #12
      • Issue #13
      • Issue #14
      • Issue #15
      • Issue #16
      • Issue #17
      • Issue #18
      • Issue #19
      • Issue #20
      • Issue #21
      • Issue #22
      • Issue #23
      • Issue #24
      • Issue #25 - Horror Week
      • Issue #26
      • Issue #27
      • Issue #28
      • Issue #29
      • Issue #30
      • Issue #31
      • Issue #32
      • Issue #33
      • Issue #34
      • Issue #35
      • Issue #36
      • Issue #37
      • Issue #38
      • Issue #39
      • Issue #40
    • Reviews 
      • (All Reviews)
      • Action Adventure
      • Animation
      • Biography/History
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Foreign
      • Horror
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Thriller
    • Features 
      • (All Features)
      • Bonding with Bond
      • Double Exposures
      • Essays
      • Event Coverage
      • Lists
      • New to Netflix
      • News
      • Retrospectives
    • OUR TEAM
REGISTER
@
LOGIN
Reviews
0
previous article
Berlinale 2015: Eisenstein in Guanajuato
next article
Review: My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Review: The Lazarus Effect

by Josef Rodriguez on March 1, 2015
the lazarus effect
Overall Rating
5.5
THE BOTTOM LINE

Although The Lazarus Effect has a very strong first half, it quickly devolves into a subpar horror thriller, led by an overqualified cast with an underdeveloped script.

5.5
Critic Rating
You have rated this

In a UC, Berkeley medical lab, a group of ambitious scientists thinks they may have, through a miraculous serum, invented the cure for death. Frank (Mark Duplass), the team leader, is accompanied by his wife Zoe (Olivia Wilde), and their two associates, chain-smoking Clay (Evan Peters), and Niko (Donald Glover), who is secretly in love with Zoe. The project, dubbed Lazarus – a nod to Saint Lazarus, who was resurrected to life by Jesus four days after his death – is controversial for obvious reasons, but the scientists have agreed to let one of the university’s film students, Eva (Sarah Bolger) film their experiments.

When their grant is compromised by a rival company who buys out their primary benefactor, the team is forced to take drastic measures by filming their experiment and proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are the serum’s creators. With a comprehensive knowledge of the property, they’re able to sneak into the laboratory undetected. But when a freak accident kills Zoe, Frank must use the serum to bring her back to life, regardless of what the consequences may be.

Directed by Jiro Dreams of Sushi helmer David Gelb, The Lazarus Effect is, on paper, a very strange career move for the director, who has worked almost exclusively on documentaries for the entirety of his career. But this Blumhouse-produced horror flick is much more substantial than one might thing…at first. In its opening forty minutes, The Lazarus Effect presents a number of compelling arguments about the debate between science and religion, as well as the nature of documentary filmmaking, before throwing that out the window at the halfway point in favor of cheap scares and a screeching halt of any character or theme-related development.

But back to that first half. Watching The Lazarus Effect, it becomes obvious that a filmmaker like David Gelb would want to tackle this project. For most of those opening 40 minutes, Gelb takes an opportunity, visually and through the dialogue, to comment on the importance of documentary filmmaking and how, even in death, the film will survive. Eva is crucial to the development of this film, and it makes sense that she ends up being the “last one standing,” but the horror aspects of The Lazarus Effect begin to feel like an arbitrary addition instead of functioning as a means to further develop these themes, like they should.

Alternately, the film struggles with the idea of science versus religion, and how these debates creep into domestic situations and ultimately have the power to tear couples apart. In these scenes, Mark Duplass and Olivia Wilde give strong performances as a couple in distress. While Frank is too blinded by his own God complex to realize that he’s neglecting the person he loves, Zoe is trapped in a life that obligates her to atone for a sin she committed as a child. The two of them do what they do for completely different reasons, and the film is at its best when it lets this drama fester within the characters, whether it be spoken or silent.

However, The Lazarus Effect is ultimately too inconsequential to make much of an impact. It refuses to properly answer any of the questions it asks, deciding instead to try and distract its audiences with lame jump scares and a cacophonous sound design that’s more irritating than it is scary. Evan Peters is uniformly charming as the group’s misfit genius, while Donald Glover is enjoyably low-key but feels like the group’s intellectual weak link based on the sole fact that he’s not given anything to do except pine for Zoe in a subplot that’s undercooked and ultimately unresolved. By the end, The Lazarus Effect’s unsurprising twist ending isn’t satisfactory, and serves as a lame reminder that Gelb’s feature narrative debut could have, and really should have, been so much more.

Continue Reading Issue #39
Language

English

Release

February 27, 2015

Runtime

1 hr. 23 min.

Genre

Horror

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Director

David Gelb

Cast

Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger, Ray Wise

(All Reviews), Horror, Issue #39, Reviews
David GelbDonald GloverEvan PetersMark DuplassOlivia WildeRay WiseSarah Bolgerthe lazarus effect
David Gelb, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Ray Wise, Sarah Bolger, the lazarus effect
About the Author
Josef Rodriguez
Josef Rodriguez
Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and musician living in New York City. He is often labeled as "that guy who didn't love Boyhood" and he finds himself liking Harmony Korine films more than he likes his own friends. When he's not stressing over turning in reviews on time, Josef can be seen playing guitar, watching "Spring Breakers," or trying to write the next great American movie.
You might also like
Mark DuplassOlivia Wilde
 

CIFF 2014: Creep Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 20, 2014
“Creep” finds Mark Duplass (“Safety Not Guaranteed,” “The One I Love”) and buddy Patrick Brice with a spare weekend, a digital camera, and a scary premise. Okay, it wasn’t nearly that simple – Brice and Duplass worked on the film for over a year – but this fusion of found footage horror and mumblecore dialogue […]
 
Tammy (2014)

Review: Tammy

by Zack Miller on July 6, 2014
I’ve openly stated before that I don’t like Melissa McCarthy, but that statement needs revising: I don’t like Melissa McCarthy roles. She has great timing and her range is spectacular, but she consistently squanders her talents on stale variations of the same loud, schlubby character. Call it Jonah Hill syndrome. Despite my distaste for her […]
 

Chicago Critics Film Festival 2014: The One I Love

by Taylor Sinople on May 18, 2014
"The One I Love" is a smart and unique twist on romantic comedy that shows promise for director Charlie McDowell despite a disappointingly conventional ending.
Comments
Leave a reply
Add Comment Register



Leave a Response
Cancel reply

The Focus Pull in your inbox!

Subscribe to this list, and we'll send you each week's new issue directly to your inbox. One email a week, packed with essential film writing!

Latest Reviews

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Form and Function in Alex Ross Perry’s “Queen of Earth&...
 
Digging for Fire and Unexpected: Husband and Wife Process Parenthoo...
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review

Latest Features

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Taylor Sinople’s Top 10 Films of 2015: “The Duke of Bur...
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival

Our Partners

Advertisement

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

View All
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review
 
Berlinale 2015: Eisenstein in Guanajuato
 
Berlinale 2015: Sworn Virgin
 
Berlinale 2015: Under Electric Clouds

LISTS

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
SNL40: A Look Back at 40 Years of SNL in Film
 
Six Must-See British Films Opening in 2015
 
Oscars 2015: Ranking the Best Picture Nominees
 
Our 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2015
Tweets by @thefocuspull
  • "Popcorn - check. Soda - check...I have a date with Netflix on Friday night." - Sherry
  • "[…] nails it.” I disagree, and frankly wonder what movies John is talking about. The original G..." - Dear Godzilla Fans: Please Stop Defending that ...
  • "[…] www.thefocuspull.com […]" - Annie Hall
  • "[…] more vibrant monologue or confrontation, like the dinner scene that comes at just the right time ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
  • "[…] of the year is also the stuff of a best picture winner. With Michael Keaton, hot off praise from ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
TRENDING ON TFP
   
Try a different filter
© 2014 THE FOCUS PULL FILM JOURNAL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.