Tangent Room, Swedish indie sci-fi get Calstock Arts screening

Tangent Room, the maths molding, mind-warping, multi-award winning Swedish indie sci-fi is getting a very special one-off screening in Cornwall, followed by a followed by a Q&A with the director Björn Engström.

Tangent Room, which is currently only released in the US on VoD, will be popping into at Calstock Arts on the 8 June.

And who knew maths could have you popping around like the witch in Charlton and the Wheelies. But that could be the least of your worries in the tense sci-fi mind bender that is Tangent Room.

Cosmic collapse

The film also takes the locked-room drama into a new dimension as four scientists attempt to prevent cosmic collapse. And, although the film is set entirely in a single room, it takes place in an unlimited number of parallel universes.

The idea behind it all stems from the notion of ‘scrape marks’. Here’s director Björn Engström: “In the spring of 2014, I found a research paper explaining how measurement data from the space experiment WMAP could be interpreted as scrape marks caused by a parallel universe scraping against our own.

Scrape marks

“I immediately got a story in my head: What if this collision between universes happened inside a room? And what if four scientists have to figure out what is going on before it kills them?

“This idea fed my imagination and I wrote the first draft of the Tangent Room screenplay in a matter of weeks.

Problem-solving thriller

“I wanted to make a problem-solving thriller, but I also wanted to play with the genre, and explore how to create tension for the audience without resorting to too conventional storytelling devices.

“The theories in the film are based on actual science, but I have kept it vague on purpose and let my imagination run free. By explaining as little as possible of the actual science, I hope to keep the audience intrigued.”

And it seems to have worked. Tangent Room is ‘a superbly intelligent film that provides a big bang (pun very much intended) in a succinct runtime,’ according to Crytic Crook.

Intelligent film

‘In a market dominated by big-budget sci-fi, it shows that even the smallest of productions can still make an impact,’ says Starburst.

We’ll leave you with what Cup of Moe thought: “Tangent Room is brilliant, cerebral sci-fi like Primer or David Cronenberg’s Scanners… it’s exceptionally entertaining with a delightful mix of thrilling elements, comedic moments, and intrigue.”

And if you thought that was out of the world, we’re delighted that the Tangent Room stars Cornwall-based actress Vee Vimolmal.