This low stakes, high concept film was cruising for a super average review until, out of nowhere, I realized I was not only kind of enjoying it, but I was liking (some of) the characters. That’s hardly fair.

Multiverse takes a great big idea (the multiverse) and whittles it down to a simple story about doppelgangers and the old trope that two copies of a person can’t exist in the same universe/timeline at the same time. It really seems low stakes, low ambition, low budget. Yet somehow the characters grew on me, especially the deaf scientist played by Sandra Mae Frank.

Sandra Mae Frank’s doppelganger from the other reality is not deaf and, in fact, can speak. And it’s a testament to how much I cared for her character that I immediately started Googling the actress. Because I was pretty sure she was deaf… so I wasn’t sure if she was a hearing actress who was doing a great job acting deaf or a deaf actress who they were lip syncing another actresses voice onto sometimes. Turns out she’s deaf but I think that says something about how connected I was… out of nowhere.

Semi side-note, Sandra Mae Frank’s mom in the film is played by Marlee Matlin. Not a big part but it adds to how much I was connecting with the characters since she’s so good at her job.

The movie doesn’t really have a lot of originality in its sci-fi premise, but I think it does well with what it has. Each character has a copy and the way the film mixes and matches people from different realities is decently clever. I was getting into how each actor played their personas differently and keeping track of which version of a character was aware of who was their friend vs. a copy. And also how some of the “Evil Twin” tropes were subverted by the fact the doppelgangers were sometimes *gasp* just regular people.

It’s not world shattering or super original, but I think it works. Even if I’m wrong about how good the characters are, there’s still something here worth watching if the premise intrigues.

Score: 82