“Focus. What do you see?”
These words are the inner mantra repeated to Frankie, the lead character in this neo-noir, and also serve as timely advice to the audience for Ryan J. Sloan’s debut feature Gazer.
The film opens on Frankie’s eyes, scanning the windows of an apartment building opposite the gas station where she works nights. She theorises about the inhabitants. Who they are, what they are doing. Until, in a Rear Window moment, a glance up at one particular window provides a view of something she should not have seen.
This momentary distraction causes her to lose her job, for it is the latest in a long line of concentration lapses due to her condition. Frankie suffers from dyschronometria, a rare condition that means she struggles to perceive time. She manages it through medication and the use of cassette tapes that she records for herself. Her voice keeps her on point and focused for a variety of tasks, whether going shopping or the bus ride home from work.
With her condition worsening, she is desperate to raise money to provide for her daughter, who lives with her ex-partner’s mother following his apparent suicide. When she meets the woman seemingly involved in the incident in the apartment at a support group, Frankie is offered the chance to make some quick cash for her help with a seemingly simple favour.
But this is the movies. Nothing is ever that simple, or exactly what it appears.
An unreliable narrator, a Femme Fatale, mistaken identity, Macguffins. All the elements are there for a classic Film Noir.
The score by Steve Matthew Carter certainly evokes that vibe of 1940s noir, however, Sloan has delivered the epitome of neo-noir and clearly a fan and student of the genre. Together with partner Mastrioanni, who serves as lead actor and co-writer, they shot it over two years. It is a labour of love and a love letter to cinema, including Nolan’s Memento, Hitchcock, the Coen Brothers.
Given the touchpoints used, one builds an idea of where things are headed, only to have the rug pulled out from under them when he throws in a dream sequence or two that evoke the surreal filmography of Cronenberg and Lynch.
Despite the range of potentially disparate influences upon his work, Sloan has a voice of his own, and it rings out loud and clear.
His decision to shoot grainy 16mm cinematography gives this tale of twists and turns a true grit, which compliments Mastroianni’s raw and vulnerable performance as the woman out of time.
For a main character who often finds herself losing time, the irony is that the film could have lost some time of its own. It feels a little overlong, particularly in the final act, and could have done with a trim or two in the edit suite to tighten up what otherwise is a well-executed tale.
Despite its minor pacing issues, if you focus, then you will see that Gazer is an impressive debut and calling card for Ryan J. Sloan. Gazing into the future, one can visualise great things in store for the filmmaker.
Gazer is in UK cinemas from July 25
Rating: 
Director: Ryan J. Sloan
Stars: Ariella Mastroianni, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts, Marianne Goodell
Runtime: 114 minutes
Country: USA
