Shortly after, he receives a call from Sara, his long-dead ex-girlfriend, and we are transported back to the day Peter first met both Sara and Lora at a photoshoot. Despite intending to ask Lora out, miscommunication intervenes, and Peter finds himself drawn to Sara after saving her from her manipulative manager, Simon, and her possessive photographer boyfriend, Terry.
In the present, it is revealed that Sara has been dead for years, and Peter's guilt over her death has consumed him, fracturing his marriage to Lora. However, Sara contacts Peter, revealing that she orchestrated her own disappearance due to her shattered influencer dreams. Peter awakens, believing his encounter with Sara and the crash were mere hallucinations, yet he continues to see and interact with Sara. Flashbacks unveil Sara's descent into a dark world of drugs and alcohol, ultimately leading to her demise.
Peter experiences multiple iterations of the car crash, eventually realizing he is the one who crashed and is severely injured. A supernatural battle ensues between Sara, seeking retribution against Peter, and Lora, fighting to salvage their fractured marriage. Should Lora triumph, Peter will survive; if Sara prevails, they can reunite in an eternal, enigmatic love.
"Double Exposure" delves into the enigma of survivor guilt from Peter's past, showing how it has weighed on his present, casting a mysterious and foreboding shadow over his life. It explores the murky depths of resentment, the haunting specter of unfinished business, and the chilling toll of unresolved emotions on the human psyche.
My first feature, “Apple Pie,” was a cult midnight hit. My favorite review said “This film is to the art of filmmaking what John Coltrane is to the art of Jazz improvisation.” Another said “Sublime What-the-Fuckery!” I liked that a lot. In my Off-Broadway musical “Buskers” the main character decides he doesn’t like the play as written by the writer/director (me) and leads a mutiny, taking over the show and wreaking glorious havoc until he and “I” (played by an actor) come to blows onstage. My film “Eden,” which was a favorite in the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Festival, was an esoteric film about a woman with MS who believes she can leave her body through Astral Projection. “Jake Squared” was about a 50 year old man who comes face to face with himself at ages 17, 30, 40 and 80. His head nearly explodes as all of his other selves explain to him how he’s screwed up his life and try to solve his romantic problems for him.
And now I’m making “Double Exposure,” a surreal film where the past and present collide as a man struggles so hard with the guilt he feels over the ex-girlfriend he could not save, that he cannot fully be with the woman he marries. The script has been described by one reader as “David Fincher meets Christopher Nolan inside an M.C. Escher painting.” Yeah, I like that, too.
This film is a labor of love based on real people from my life which I bring to the screen with the help of great actors, a visionary DP, fantastic effects and the same heart and soul I have brought to all my other work.
I love working with actors to find their authentic characters together. Peter, Lora and Sara’s journey covers a period of 8 years and their younger and present selves interact with each other throughout the film. We used hair, makeup, wardrobe and, above all else, acting to delineate the different time periods as the characters criss-cross each other through a fluid timeframe. All of this is emphasized, highlighted and augmented by the dreamlike cinematography of our DP, Maximilian Schmige.
As I said before, my tastes are quirky – I never go for (and in fact avoid with all my might) that which is “normal,” hence the reason why I tend to get either 10 star ratings or 1 star ratings. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Howard Goldberg