Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Mild
- paranoid
- eerie
- disorienting
- late night viewing
- mind bending movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film ambitious and atmospheric, with strong lead performances and distinctive metaphysical ideas offset by confusing plotting and pretentious dialogue.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Fred's past, present, drug experience, and encounters with the creature blur into an uncertain account of what is real.
Fred's encounter with a forgotten man sends him back toward the missing girl, Mercury, and secrets from his youth.
The film connects its terrifying invasive entity and questions of enlightenment to Gnostic concepts such as the demiurge.
The mysterious drug Mercury is central to Fred's investigation and to the film's transformation of drug experience into cosmic mystery.
Films like Flashback, and why
The Butterfly Effect
mind-bending mystery, fractured reality, and psychologically destabilizing time manipulation
Donnie Darko
reality-bending thriller built around altered timelines, hidden trauma, and existential choice
Jacob's Ladder
surreal psychological investigation involving memory, identity, and ominous metaphysical forces
Coherence
ambiguous science fiction mystery with nonlinear perception and escalating existential dread
Movie Details
- Director
- Christopher MacBride
- Release Date
- 2021-06-03
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (343)
Cast
- Dylan O'Brien
- Hannah Gross
- Emory Cohen
- Keir Gilchrist
- Maika Monroe
- Liisa Repo-Martell
- Amanda Brugel
- A.C. Peterson
- Aaron Poole
- Maika Harper
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MovieSphere+ 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 Flashback about?
- A troubled man revisits a vanished girl, a mind-altering drug, and an inhuman presence that may have crossed from childhood into his adult life.
- What is Flashback like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Flashback as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Flashback violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Flashback as mild.
- What did critics think of Flashback?
- Critics broadly found the film ambitious and atmospheric, with strong lead performances and distinctive metaphysical ideas offset by confusing plotting and pretentious dialogue.
- Which films are like Flashback?
- Films with a similar feel include The Butterfly Effect, Donnie Darko, Jacob's Ladder, and Coherence.
- How long is Flashback?
- Flashback runs 97 minutes.
- Where can I watch Flashback?
- In United States, Flashback streams on MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel.
