Gazer (2024)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Set on the outskirts of Newark, New Jersey, 'Gazer' follows Frankie (Ariella Mastroianni), a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria which disables her from correctly perceiving time. Prone to paranoia and frequent "zone outs", she uses self-recorded cassette tapes to keep herself safe and present in our modern, high-tech world. Unable to find steady work with her condition, she desperately takes a job from a mysterious woman with a dark past.
- Actors:
- Ariella Mastroianni, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts, Marianne Goodell, Tommy Kang, Marcia DeBonis, Luis Arroyo Jr., Jarrett Austin Brown, Mitchell Cetuk, Jeremy Cohen, Frank Huerta, Laris Macario, Emma Pearson, Annie Pisapia, Grant Schumacher, Wadiah Waliah, Sheilagh Weymouth, LeJon Woods
- Directors:
- Ryan J. Sloan
- Producers:
- Mason Dwinell, Ariella Mastroianni, Ryan J. Sloan
- Writers:
- Ariella Mastroianni, Ryan J. Sloan
- Genres:
- Thrillers
More like Gazer
Reviews (1) of Gazer
Lost for Time in Jersey City - Gazer review by griggs
Time is slippery in Gazer, and not just for its protagonist. Frankie, played with taut, haunted energy by Ariella Mastroianni, suffers from a rare neurological disorder that scrambles her sense of time. She records cassette memos, peers through windows, and drifts into a job that turns dangerous fast. Shot on grainy 16mm in Jersey City, the film borrows freely—Memento’s fractured chronology, The Conversation’s paranoia, and visual nods to Lynch and Cronenberg.
It’s atmospheric, with streetlights buzzing, shadows breathing, and a soundscape that coils tightly around the action. Mastroianni’s performance is the anchor, shifting between resolve and fragility. But the film’s biggest flaw is its ambition—it sometimes gets so wrapped up in its own loops that it loses focus, and occasionally the viewer too. When it clicks, it’s hypnotic noir; when it doesn’t, it feels like déjà vu without the payoff.