Levers review – gloom-laden experimental eclipse drama about the play of light and darkness

An opaque, inert film by Canadian director Rhayne Vermette despite its scrupulously intended meanings

An experimental film should be approached in the same open-minded spirit in which it was created, but I must confess to being more or less defeated by this opaque, inert, micro-budget work from Canadian director Rhayne Vermette, who has worked with Guy Maddin in the past. Levers is set in the Red River valley in Manitoba, and much of it unfolds in a kind of gloomy darkness; the title, which is French, means Sunrises, and the interplay of light and darkness is a key image.

A gigantic eclipse plunges the world into shadow; the event would appear to have an occult connection with a certain sculpture and sculptor. But the eclipse is to pass, resulting in a series of sunrises around the globe, and one person undertakes to investigate what exactly has happened.