Fringe Review

“April Fool” is an unbalanced film. The story follows siblings Thomas and Marie (played by Garrett Sauer and Chloe Leczel, who also wrote the film) as they reconnect over the course of two days. Through their time together, they discuss Thomas’s struggles with mental health, the disappointments they’ve had to contend with in life and the death of their father.

There’s a disconnect between the ambitions of “April Fool” and its execution. A film with as much dialogue as this needs the audience to be fully invested, but there are consistent continuity issues, peaking audio and the color grade changes nearly every shot. When the technical aspects that are meant to be invisible are that visible, it takes the audience out of the story. Sauer and Leczel are mostly solid actors, but the supporting cast is not as adept in their roles.

While I did find the general premise engaging, the fact that the film takes place over the course of two days means most of the important bits of information are told and not shown. Thomas and Marie never quite feel like siblings, both in their portrayal and in how they’re written. The screenplay skillfully avoids tropes like a character saying “Remember the time” but the consequence of that is I never felt like I fully understood the leads, the nature of their relationship, or their history. We’re given brief insights into all of this but it’s not enough to marry everything in the film.

Sauer and Leczel clearly have some interesting ideas, and should continue collaborating, but as a whole I don’t think I can recommend “April Fool”.