Somewhere in the Middle

Somewhere in the Middle tells the story of interconnected relationships between four people. Billie (Cassandra Freeman) runs a New York advertising agency and has a particular gift for controlling her staff with understated threats that are tied to promises of reward. At home, she is breaking up with her husband, Kofi (Charles Miller), the self-centered brother of a therapist who is treating Sofia (Marisol Miranda)—the latter a freelance graphic designer working for Billie. Sofia, who is clueless about Kofi's marriage to Billie, exhibits an obsessive interest in Kofi (in a scary Fatal Attraction-like way). until he agrees to have sex with her. Meanwhile, Billie has boundary issues of her own, aggressively cultivating a friendship with employee Alex (Louisa Ward), although perhaps hoping for something more. The entanglements here range from pedestrian to surprising, and writer-director Lanre Olabisi tries to add drama and mystery by presenting scenes in nonlinear fashion, with concurrent subplots that circle back, again and again, to certain touchstones. Somewhere in the Middle, which reportedly grew out of a year of improvisations, features a consistently strong cast and boasts some very good moments, but the fractured structure ultimately feels like an empty experiment. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)