From the director of Puzzles, Natalia Smirnoff brings another quirky tight knit story to life in the form of Lock Charmer. It tells the story about a young locksmith named Sebastian, who keeps to himself and goes about life in a bit of a haze. Work for him is steady, but he never creates substantial relationships. For Sebastian, hiding behind locked doors is his way of life. He never opens up to people close to him, only locked doors for the strangers that call for his service. His recent girlfriend of sorts, Monica, tells him one day that she is pregnant, and he may or may not be the father. Quick, call Maury Povich!
Soon after, Sebastian develops a power; when fixing people's locks, he learns about people's feelings and secrets. Obviously not as cool as the ability to read women's thoughts like Mel Gibson's powers in What Women Want, but oh well.
After discovering his new abilities, Sebastian's life is turned upside down, and he has to confront what he has struggled to deal with his whole life"”dealing with his issues and personal demons while repairing his relationship with his parents and girlfriend and some unexpected customers along the way.
Overall, I loved the theme and story of Lock Charmer but was underwhelmed by the execution and lack of development. The acting was top notch, especially that of Esteban Lamothe. All in all, the script could have benefited from a few re-writes, and the story would have benefited from a longer runtime; for me, 77 minutes is a bit too short in terms of the subject matter at hand. As a result, I was left with many pressing questions, and it left me a bit frustrated.
