Sum of Existence

"Sum of Existence" by first time director Jon Cohen is a great example of Australian independent film that is not afraid to present controversial ideas and concepts that are larger than life on such a shoe string budget.

The film presents the story of Liz, who after a traumatic and brutal experience is hypnotized in order to forget. In short it does help her recover from her complete psychotic break, but in the long run the treatment begins to affect her behavior towards those around her. The film therefore presents a realistic commentary on psychiatry and is a successful attempt of how most psychiatric treatments are short term behavior modifiers, but do not always work long term.

By placing this commentary in amongst a "serial kidnapper/rapist" storyline the film is heightened in its dramatic premise and keeps you entertained and intrigued.

The acting by the entire cast is strong and the vision functionally reflect this and the story nicely.

I have great respect for Jon and his team who were able to take a complex story and actually go out there and make it happen on such a low-budget and then to top it off they were able to score a nice time-slot on Channel 9 through sheer perseverance.

Patience and perseverance is exactly what this film is all about and if this is the first feature film by Jon Cohen then I look forward to experiencing future films of his... Give this guy a budget and see what happens...!!!!