Ten ‘til Noon

A man awakens late one morning to discover two armed assassins in his bedroom. Who are they? Where did they come from? Why is he a target? For 10 minutes—from 11:50 a.m. until noon—the pair taunt and threaten him...and then the gun goes off. The film rewinds to 11:50, and our focus shifts to other players elsewhere in this conspiracy, again and again as we continue to relive those 10 minutes from multiple perspectives (a tycoon's wife having an affair, a surveillance team, etc.), revealing some but not all of the answers, until we are left in the end with a uniquely edgy sense of discomfort. Director Scott Storm and screenwriter Paul Osborne have joined forces to create a thrillingly original film that plays with narrative structure and tweaks audience expectations (referencing such varied films as Memento, Groundhog Day, and Pulp Fiction, but is ultimately its own creature). A breath of fresh cinematic air, Ten ‘til Noon—which has won a slew of festival awards—reminds us that even though the tedious sameness of studio films would seem to suggest otherwise, there's a whole universe of new ways to tell stories out there. Highly recommended. (M. Johanson)