WFG RATING: B+

A Thewsle Rah Production. Directed, Cinematography, and Edited by Michael Mahler. Produced by Brian Bondurant, Michael Davison, Courtney Gentile, Jim Heffernan, Alan Klein, Sergey Kochergan, Bill Lopez, Gary MacKnight, Matthew Mahler, Stephen Martin, Andrew McCarrick, Shane Mitchell, Andrea Norell, Taylor Norell, Dori Oddo, and John Oddo. Written by Michael Mahler; story by Michael and Ross Mahler.

Stars Timothy J. Cox, Anthony Carey, Paula Mahler, Matthew Mahler, Ross Mahler, John Heerlein, John Mahler, and Andrea Norell.

A man on the hunt for his missing sister reveals a world he never imagined in this surreal horror film from Michael Mahler.

When Mallory Spellman goes missing after a nightly walk, her brother Luke is seeking answers. When he turns to his friend Jack for help, things rarely go well for him, as if Jack couldn’t care less. Meanwhile, having inherited his family home, Alan Roscoe Jr. is the new head of the local HOA. One of the members, Janice, constantly berates Alan and makes a mockery out of him, which slowly begins to get to him.

When the HOA offer to help with the investigation involving Mallory’s disappearance, Alan offers to help but only during the daytime. At night, he begins to have strange visions of his late dad and seems to have to become possessed. Meanwhile, Luke has discovered there may be a connection between Mallory’s disappearance and Alan Jr. and what he discovers will forever embed in his head.

From the mind of Matthew Mahler comes this surreal and visually enhancing horror film that doesn’t rely on any gore. Instead, it involves two men, one desperately looking for his sister and the other, a man who had inherited his father’s house and position as head of a homeowner’s association who gets flack from one of the fellow HOA members on a consistent basis. It is as if she is purposely trying to take over the organization herself and is one of those characters you are hoping and praying will get some sort of comeuppance.

Timothy J. Cox is excellent in the role of Alan Jr. What’s very interesting is his introduction scene where we see him baking a pie, listening to some biblical verses and we see a juxtaposition of the pie backing with a baby being born. As if we are seeing Alan Jr. for the first time as the new head of the HOA and as the film progresses, see him grow more self-confident with a rise in his self-esteem, thanks to a little help from Daddy.

As for Anthony Carey’s Luke, he spends the film talking first to police about his sister, whose disappearance is the basis of the film. We see the sister in the film’s opening sequence on the night it happens. However, where Alan sees visions of his father, Luke at times sees visions of his sister and in one really insane moment, he sees her singing a very insane song. Luke tries to find help from his friend Jack, played by the director, who seems to constantly blow it off much to his chagrin. Once the whole story plays out, it is nearly as jaw-dropping as the major twist reveal in Saltburn only this one had an ending so done visually well and out there, it made me wonder what I just watched!

The film does have a warning that those with epilepsy may want to avoid the film as there are loads of numerous flashing lights throughout the film.

Protanopia is visually striking, at times left field, but ultimately is an excellent indie film that thrives on the visuals.