I never watch series, and it never came to my mind that this was supposed to be a pilot film. The final open end, which I rather found funny and I wasn't disappointed at all, suggested that the story had a lot of potential, and I looked for a (planned) sequel. There is none, no series either.I was entertained without a bore, though the characters were a bit too caricatured, but there wasn't too much unnecessary small talk (which I really hate in series and the reason why I don't waste my time watching them) just to fill the time between a too scarce story events.There isn't much of a story, and you almost feel in a kind of survival 3D game with no monsters. Except there isn't much action either. Nevertheless, I was surprised it took me 40th minutes to check my watch, when it felt just like 20 min. and the rest of the movie ended up quite fast.As it stands, its a good B movie, small budget, cheap effects, but professionally well directed with good rhythm.

To echo the previous reviews. Good premise, some good casting, particularly Polly who I thought acted very well.I only had a short time to squeeze in a film and it surprised me how much it sucked me in relatively quickly. It just goes to show how much 'shoe leather' goes into modern movie making to justify a 2 hour plus run time. At no point did I feel it was going too fast, so credit to the pacing of the film.But why release this as a film at all? All it does it frustrate the viewer and say...hey look what might have been a good sci fi series.Netflix, buy it out and put a little money behind continuing this please!I credit indie sci fi a lot but this received a low mark from me as I cannot stand unexplained endings to movies, I am guessing that is the reason why others marked it so low, because otherwise, there is nothing wrong with it.

The basic idea behind this film was right up my street, sci-fi, time/reality travel, multi-verse etc. all tick my boxes in the 'Theres a good possibility that i'm going to enjoy this flick' questionnaire, and, for the majority of the time, this was almost a true. Unfortunately the direction, lack of situational authenticity of some of the dialog and character interaction left me feeling frustrated and thinking 'what a shame'. Imagine a lovely cut of Kobe beef, a handful of white asparagus, new potatoes, a smooth and creamy sauce Hollandaise for the veg. and a velvety red wine/butter/pepper sauce for the meat(mouths watering right), now throw it all in the microwave, and, hey presto you have my experience of Parallels. All the right ingredients prepared in a not so right way. Mark Hapka/ronan carver (7,5), Jessica Rothe/beatrix carver (7), Eric Jungmann/harold (4,5), Constance Wu/polly (6). Basic plot (8,5), Direction (5,5), Script (4). Still, i had nothing else to do at 2am.

To be honest, I don't know why Fox decided to produce this as a film, because it would make a hell of a series. I was impressed with the ideas behind this film. Despite it's flaws, it has a lot of potential! Plot wise, it's got a pretty decent science fiction premise; a skyscraper in a downtown metropolis that can transport the individuals inside to alternate universes and time-lines. That's not a spoiler at all, but it does pretty much sum up the movie.The risk is that the incredibly popular T.V show Fringe has already done this (and before that Star-Trek TNG, and the whole D.C comics universe). There wasn't much in terms of background story, which leaves the plot line open somewhat, and it's short, so you don't get much further plot development before it ends.The characters were mostly bland at times, and I didn't feel much of a connection between the main group and their comradeship. Michael Monks outperforms everyone on screen as the father seeking revenge. His performance (and appearance) are reminiscent of William Hurt. I don't want to give away plot points here (because not much happens in the film), but he makes the rest of the actors seem like rookies. Which they very well may be, outside of Constance Wu's performance. She seems a bit childish at times, and the scene where she is lying on the bed while the main actor opens up his heart, weeping... was just awful. While the others in the group try to bring a sense of confusion and urgency to the film, I thought her personality was more annoying than necessary. Oh, and far too many sarcastic quips on her part! Like, every single line pretty much. There is a lot of potential here, and I hope Fox pushes for a series, or at least more in terms of writing and character development, but it's a great first entry from Christopher Leone.This is a hell of a season opener, but not much in terms of great sci-fi cinema.6/10