THE FILM:

The hospital-is-limbo/waiting room from hell concept behind Convergence is a good one. If only I knew what the hell was going on half the time in this frenetic, muddled thriller from Drew Hall. Convergence wants desperately to mean something, and it might have succeeded with a better editor. After responding to the scene of a bombing, Detective Ben Walls (Clayne Crawford) becomes trapped in a mysteriously anachronistic hospital with faces new and familiar. Thus begins an odd mix of horror, thriller, mystic and religious elements that confounds more than it entertains. I'm all for a head-trip, but Convergence gave me a headache.

The film makes vague allusions to the 1996 Atlanta bombings, though it begins in 1999. Det. Walls leaves his wife and baby daughter at home. The wife is mad because of something that happened in the detective's past, but the film never makes it clear what, exactly, that is. He arrives on scene and discovers carnage and destruction. When clearing a nearby hospital, Walls discovers that one of the bombers is still around. Cut to Walls in a hospital bed after another explosion. His captain, Saul Miller (Mykelti Williamson) is there, too, but the hospital is strangely empty despite the mass casualties reported in the bombing. Walls begins walking the halls and encounters a pin-up appropriate nurse (Chelsea Bruland) and off-putting security guard Peter Grayson (Gary Grubbs), "incidentally" called "Grace." Oh yeah, there is also someone lurking in the shadows, stabbing and beating people to death.

I am not recommending this movie, so I will venture into spoiler territory here. You've been warned. Walls is obviously stuck in some kind of alternate reality/purgatory/hell after being killed by the bomber. The killer is named Daniel (Ethan Embry), and he is using Christian theology as inspiration. There are also strange, ethereal smoke creatures and other ghouls that appear, whether from Walls' imagination or something more sinister. And, there are torture-porn quality segments, characters that come back to life, and ghost hunters. F*****g ghost hunters. This kitchen-sink approach only results in a flood of unfinished ideas and unrequited storylines.

I guess the idea here is that Walls can save his own soul from damnation by repenting? Or something. The movie never makes it clear that Walls has anything to repent about. Certainly doing his job and ending up in limbo is not chief among sins. The editing, my goodness, the editing. The movie jumps around so much that not only did I not understand the plot, I didn't care. There are some unique elements and decently spooky visuals, but nothing is done in service of a broader story. A reel of confounding scenes does not a movie make. This is the most uneven, poorly assembled film I've seen in some time. Definitely pass this one by.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 1.78:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image is fine. The low-budget filmmaking is apparent, though the transfer offers decent detail and clarity. Colors are somewhat bland but do not bleed, and black levels are fine, with adequate shadow detail. I noticed some minor shimmering but nothing crazy.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix offers a decently immersive experience that is plagued by stinger effects. Dialogue, music and effects are adequately balanced, and there are lightly immersive effects throughout. A 2.0 English LPCM track is included, as are English SDH subtitles.

EXTRAS:

You get a short Making-Of (7:04/HD); a few Deleted and Extended Scenes (17:12/HD); and the Trailer (2:18/HD).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Nope. This muddled thriller does not make a lick of sense. Damnation, salvation and redemption all get thrown around like Frisbees in this flimsy, poorly edited mess. Lofty ideas and a couple of decent visuals do not support a feature film. Skip It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.