Coherence
During a comet-induced reality fracture, an intimate dinner party becomes a nerve-rattling test of identity, trust, and the desire for a better life.
Overview
A dinner party spirals into chaos as reality unravels under the influence of a cosmic event.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Mild
- paranoid
- claustrophobic
- cerebral
- late night viewing
- rewatch night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an ingenious, compelling low-budget science-fiction thriller driven by grounded ensemble acting, smart ideas, and escalating paranoia.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The comet creates intersecting versions of the dinner party and its participants, forcing the friends to question which reality they occupy.
The entire crisis unfolds among eight friends whose ordinary reunion becomes charged with mistrust, secrecy, and fear.
The one-house setting and absence of expensive visual effects make the comet's reality-bending consequences emerge through dialogue, behavior, and small physical details.
The film links its many-worlds premise to the friends' willingness to pursue realities that may offer better relationships or personal outcomes.
Films like Coherence, and why
The Invitation
shares a claustrophobic dinner-party setting, escalating paranoia, relationship tensions, and unsettling psychological ambiguity
Primer
shares low-budget science fiction, reality distortion, identity anxiety, and an intimate domestic setting
The One I Love
shares quantum-inflected reality shifts, doppelgängers, and a tense ensemble trapped by metaphysical uncertainty
Timecrimes
shares cerebral science fiction, parallel realities, and mounting dread within an ordinary social environment
Movie Details
- Director
- James Ward Byrkit
- Release Date
- 2014-04-06
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (3625)
Cast
- Emily Baldoni
- Maury Sterling
- Nicholas Brendon
- Lorene Scafaria
- Elizabeth Gracen
- Hugo Armstrong
- Alex Manugian
- Lauren Maher
- Kelly Donovan
- Aqueela Zoll
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, Night Flight Plus, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Cineverse, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Coherence about?
- During a comet-induced reality fracture, an intimate dinner party becomes a nerve-rattling test of identity, trust, and the desire for a better life.
- What is Coherence like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Coherence as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Coherence violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Coherence as mild.
- What did critics think of Coherence?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an ingenious, compelling low-budget science-fiction thriller driven by grounded ensemble acting, smart ideas, and escalating paranoia.
- Which films are like Coherence?
- Films with a similar feel include The Invitation, Primer, The One I Love, and Timecrimes.
- How long is Coherence?
- Coherence runs 89 minutes.
- Where can I watch Coherence?
- In United States, Coherence streams on Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, Night Flight Plus, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Cineverse, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
