No matter how much love and care one invests into a loved one, a full degree of control that further translates into a perpetual state of shielding them from harm is impossible to achieve. There will always be events out of their sphere of control, decisions taken in a split second which can shatter not only one existence but multiple ones. Kaushal Kumar Singh’s ‘Resonance’ shows exactly that, and specifically punctuates its themes with the ending scene, where the young protagonist learns that the world is perhaps not the idealized version that it might seem to be for a child.

 

This contrast is wonderfully explored by the film’s script, a very thoughtful and emotional exposition of ideas of very layered substance. The key happening, presented circularly, is almost a demonstration of Murphy’s Law, and a lesson in how harsh, unforgiving and definitive the real world can be. This is particularly hard to swallow for the young girl, who had previously always been shielded from any kind of harm, be it physical or emotional, and always received the sugar-coated version of upsetting things. Her reaction is a very sad call to reality which ensures that the film ends on a powerful and thought-provoking note.

 

Unfortunately, while the script and most of the dialogues are very well written, ‘Resonance’ suffers from issues of both artistic and technical nature. Firstly, acting could have been a bit more convincing and nuanced – it is by no means bad, but equally doesn’t shine in any respect. The 2-minute long credits introduction is, of course, a stylistic choice, but doesn’t really fit within this kind of short production. However, the major problems stem from the editing, cinematography and sound mixing of the production.

 

Director Kaushal Kumar Singh has not always chosen the best angles for shooting, and this becomes noticeable. The shaky filming technique seems to be more of an error than a feature, while also the camera movement and perspective in the scene which overviews the accident is reminiscent of a live news report rather than a film. These, of course, can be stylistically used in cinematography, but within the right context and consistently, neither of which ‘Resonance’ does. The extreme eye close-up shot becomes a sort of a recurring theme, with the potential of leading towards a plot twist, but does nothing of the sort in the end – its presence is therefore not justified.

 

With regards to editing, the director cuts and changes perspective slightly way too often, which would almost lead to annoyance, if not for the short runtime. Sound equalization is very badly done, to the point that some audio chunks are missing, other times, lip sync is off or music is simply too intrusive over dialogues, which are difficult to understand as a result. Lastly, the English subtitles are not professionally done, with issues such as lack of clarity, grammar mistakes and inconsistency in writing plaguing them throughout the entire duration of the film.

 

All in all, however, ‘Resonance’ gets its point across, despite the rather numerous errors and dubious choices which detract from the overall viewing experience, especially on the technical side of things. The film is a powerful rendition of its explored themes, involving some really beautifully captured moments, which makes it even more of a pity that this is not matched by the manner in which the script is staged.