Unless I missed something, there is but one single special-effect in the whole of the sort-of sci-fi, definitely time-travel, and very, very feel-good movie,
TOMORROW EVER AFTER. That quite effective "effect" turns out to be a small "card" our time traveler carries with her as a sort of updated means of communication and identity. This little card, that occasionally lights up and displays messages, turns out to work on ATMs, in the NYC subway system and probably everywhere else, too.
What a blessing. You'll wish you had one, for sure.
Shaina, the woman who owns this card (played by the film's writer/director
Ela Thier, shown at left, above and below) hails from the future and is said to be some kind of historian who has come back in time from several hundred years to take a look at our current, early 21-Century period, known in later times and quite appropriately, as
The Great Despair.
When Shaina gets separated from the rest of her party, she must subsequently fend for herself as she tries to find someone who can help her "reconnect."
That's pretty much it regarding the plot of
Tomorrow Ever After, but the movie's charm -- and it is surprisingly charming, given its probably miniscule budget -- comes from Ms Thier's bizarre behavior vis-a-vis New York City's current denizens, all of whom seem to be barely surviving our current
you're-either-wealthy-or-slave-labor environment.
Shaina's joyful demeanor and positive expectations befuddle those she meets, and Ms Their is good enough at making her character believable-if-obvious that we go along for the ride. She meets and ends up staying with a very sweet-if-slow apartment tenant (played with low-key charisma by an actor named
Memo, above),
gets involved with a deadbeat mugger (
Nabil Vinas), above, left) and his angry-but-caring girlfriend (
Ebbe Bassey, above, right), the former of whom repeatedly takes advantage of our girl, while the latter grudgingly provides some help, and finally ends up connecting with a relative (below) with a drinking problem and little memory of what happened "the night before." It's all rather silly but sweet, and the performances are quite good. The film's biggest problem, for those who insist on "thinking" rather than simply feeling good, comes in its rush toward a finale that proves one of those let's-be-happy-at-all-costs things.
After offering us countless examples of unhappy people unable to properly connect, Shaina is finally so taken with our current abilities to survive and care about each other that Ms Thier reams home her message with a little too heavy a hand -- having Mr. Vinas deliver an emotional speech (he does this very well, by the way) that completely goes against the character we've so far seen him exhibit.
I didn't buy it, nor could I so easily accept the aren't-we-all-wonderful finale Ms Thier has in store, but maybe you will. God knows, it would be nice to feel good for a change in this time of being Trumped into oblivion by our disgusting President and the Republican Party (not to say that the Democrats, once elected into office, are all that much better). In any case, for a good portion of its 95-minute running time, the movie certainly delivers some charm and fun. After opening theatrically earlier this year,
Tomorrow Ever After will make its digital debut via iTunes and Amazon this coming Friday, December. 22.
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