Pie. Cherry pie to be exact. A picture-perfect slice of cherry pie from a small town diner. Seems like a fantastic stop on a road trip — that is, until you end up stuck in that picture. Literally. That’s what befalls patrons of Elle’s Kountry Kitchen, where fiery redhead Ellinore serves up a pie worth its weight in your soul.
Four arguing bandmates travel through the town and take a fateful stop at that cafe. Ellinore entertains them, but soon traps them inside of pictures — the same ones that line the cafe walls. These aren’t normal pictures though; they act like shadow boxes instead of a 2-D flat world. In these boxes, the bandmates (as well as other characters we see trapped on the walls of photos) try to break out or make contact with other cafe patrons. Again, with the power of magic and cherry pie, these shadow boxes freeze the prisoners in place, blocking any attempt at outside help. Even if they could get someone’s attention, the emotionally unstable Ellinore is quick to use a paper shredder to destroy the evidence — something a very much alive photograph would like to avoid. How this cherry pie and magic photography combo works isn’t exactly explained, but it’s not a situation anyone would want to be in regardless.
Storywise, wow. When I saw where the plot was going, I thought we’d end up with a run-of-the-mill “using some kind of magic and turning it back on the antagonist” scenario. It was surely that, but more! Just having people trapped in shadow boxes was interesting enough, but adding the element of a paper shredder, literally breaking the fourth wall (within the confines of the film), and a character with little more motivation than to take good pictures and make pie brought Sweet Taste of Souls up to another level. It turns out that this film is deceivingly filled with small nooks and crannies that alone don’t do much, but put together make the movie all the more fun to watch.
For the most part, Sweet Taste of Souls looks pretty good. Camerawork is nice. Location and setting is good. Story is entertaining. Effects are on both sides of the spectrum though. While you won’t be phased by the character dissolves and blood, you will notice some CGI near the end that will take you out of the movie; it’s unfortunate, because that scene actually started off as a really cool-looking effect that went immediately to “amateur” once it was overlaid over a person. But don’t let that dissuade you from seeing the movie — the scene is short and though it’s at the end, it doesn’t take away from the rest of the film.
Sweet Taste of Souls is the perfect “lazy Sunday” movie because you don’t have to think too hard to enjoy it. The protagonists aren’t very likeable (but they don’t need to be in this instance). The main problem is simple but engaging. The end sequence may throw you off slightly, but it still fits with the whole vibe of the movie. As a whole, Sweet Taste of Souls is just plain entertaining.
Sweet Taste of Souls is available now on Amazon, InDemand, DirecTV, FlixFling, Vudu, and Fandango.
