For fans of the genre, Binge! is the most gratifying of all offerings; a unique storyline wrapped in the form of a traditional horror film. Right down to its 35 mm DNA, Binge! prominently dons the look of your favorite productions from the last half of the twentieth century. Co-directors Rohit Relan and Sam David Zhang aspired to a specific balance of film aesthetic and VFX; leading them to procure editor Hamish McLean for this film. As devout fans of classic horror films, this trio forged their ideal love letter to the productions which ignited a love of all things psychologically fear inducing. The result is nothing short of intoxicating. The look, the pacing, the sound design, and innovative plot of Binge! has already garnered droves of fans like those from its recent presentation at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. If such a thing as “comfort film” for fright fans exists, surely this is it.
There’s an underlying warning throughout Binge! concerning the concept that isolation often leads to mental torment. While actor Clayton Farris has previously been known for his work on the Primetime Emmy Nominated television series Seal Team and People’s Choice Award–Nominated television series 9-1-1, his starring role in Binge! is so commanding that it’s likely that he’ll primarily be referred to as a film actor moving forward. Mike [Farris] spends his days in a disheveled home, addicted to television. In his vintage “doom scrolling” across channels, he happens on a most surprising program; one starring himself. Fixated on the impossible nature of this, Mike begins a decent into madness where, among other things, he rips out his own hair and eats his own vomit. As he attempts to power down the TV, its true evil parasitic nature becomes more evident. Ultimately relenting to its power, the climax of this tale is as surprising as it is disturbing.
A large part of what makes Binge! so intoxicating is that it feels immersive. From the very first scene, we feel as if we are next to Mike experiencing these events in real time. Kudos to the editing which utilizes quick cuts between TV channels, shots of the remote, Mike’s reactions to different channels, and a few wider shots of the scene to set the tone in the first minute of the film. One of the most unique aspects of this film is that it takes place entirely in Mike’s home, adding to the claustrophobic mood. Far from boring, this setting depicts many interesting and unexpected moments, such as when a torrential windstorm rampages through the living room. It’s during this scene that we see Mike has accepted his defeat and the fate he must resign himself to. Yet again, the editing is remarkable as this tight physical space feels expansive while the windstorm becomes more chaotic. The camera perspective sits with Mike for just enough time, letting his guard drop as he gazes into the TV. Immediately after this moment, we cut inside the TV, and we see his emotional shift—he has now become one with the TV.
That indelible feeling of late twentieth century horror glory days is nonverbally communicated in the use of 35mm for the creation of Binge!, an aspect Hamish McLean eagerly embraced. While more cumbersome as opposed to digital, the results were immensely gratifying. Hamish describes, “Editing with 35mm brought a whole new workflow to the process. First, after shooting, the exposed rolls went to the lab to be developed, which took at least a couple of days. Unlike digital footage, we couldn’t immediately review what we’d shot, so there was an anxious waiting period between the shoot and the edit. Thankfully, when we got the footage back, it was as beautiful as we’d hoped. The lab provided a basic color timing pass, and the footage was digitized into low-resolution files for the offline edit. The actual offline edit felt very similar to working on digital footage since I was still using Avid Media Composer with digitized footage. However, there was a mental shift because I was constantly aware of how much footage we had. Shooting on 35mm is expensive, so we had limited coverage, and I had to be precise about which shots to use and why. This limitation made us more thoughtful during preproduction, as we spent considerable time storyboarding and shot listing. We even created a video storyboard that closely resembled the final film. After picture lock, I onlined the footage to the 2K scans, completed VFX, and sent everything over to Fotokem for a final color pass. Working with 35mm made me slow down and be more deliberate in my editing, engaging more closely with performance, story, rhythm, and tone. 35mm has a distinct look that I love. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing it projected in a true cinema environment and I can’t wait for that experience again.” Fans of Binge! are already clamoring online for a follow-up to this film, communicating that they also can’t wait for that experience again. While it seems impossible for Mike to return in light of this film’s ending, the creative forces behind Binge! might need to consider undertaking a sequel of some kind in the very near future.
Writer : Basil Thomson
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