Lilly (Victoria Astuto) is living a rough life. She’s struggling with relationships, she’s distanced herself from her family, and the world around her seems to be crumbling. Some Time Soon she hopes to be back on the right path, back in a place where she feels good about herself and can find success–but life likes to make things challenging, and her journey will be anything but simple.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Writer-Director Matthew Kyle Levine is simply a cinematic genius. There are people that just understand cinema in ways that make everything they touch better, and Levine possesses that trait. He knows how to capture his subjects, he knows just how to evoke emotion, and he knows exactly what it takes to get the most out of each and every scene. This has been the case in every one of his films, and it’s the case again here with Some Time Soon.
He and Astuto are close, and that allows Levine the ability to understand her like others are incapable. He knows what makes her look best and he knows how to bring out the best in her. Lilly is an emotional wreck, struggling at every turn, and a series of close-up shots throughout Some Time Soon allow this sentiment to come to life. In the close-up shots, viewers are pulled as close as humanly possible to the film’s center of attention, to its primary vehicle. Levine captures the beauty of that subject with great aplomb–but in those moments, even as brilliant as Levine is, Astuto is the shining star. She’s the face of the project, there’s no doubt about that–but she needs to present emotion to viewers in a very specific way throughout Some Time Soon. Interestingly enough, that emotion is meant to remain as simple as possible. She delivers brilliantly. She appears just to be running through the motions, doing what she can to survive; this shines through in each and every moment of Some Time Soon, and the film works incredibly well as a result.
Sound is used to drive Some Time Soon forward, and the use of sound helps to create a mundane, typical feeling that resonates with viewers. Levine chooses to use common noises, popular sounds from social media, and more to help guide this story–and that decision allows the film to be more accessible to all. Constant humming, TikTok videos, recipes for one, and the like–they are a reflection of the mundane (the place in which Lilly is trapped). Constantly depicting the mundane, the typical, the familiar allows viewers to better appreciate Lilly’s journey and Some Time Soon as a whole.
Levine ultimately creates a very simple concept by making sophisticated decisions. Some Time Soon is a film that I believe many viewers will have the ability to understand, even if there is a slight disconnect between them and the specific things that Lilly faces throughout. Levine spends the entirety of the film bridging that gap, providing reasons for viewers to remain engaged. Beautiful cinematography and exceptional sound are the ways in which Levine makes this connection possible–and Some Time Soon thrives as a result.
Written & Directed by Matthew Kyle Levine.
Starring Victoria Astuto, Nancy Kimball, Zachary Daniel Booth, Dan Berkey, & Matthew Kyle Levine.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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