Through all of last year, we posted few reviews that were as positive as the one for 88:88, an experimental feature from young Canadian filmmaker Isiah Medina that considers the weight of economic inequality, anxiety, depression, and how philosophy can shape one’s perception of the world around them — in 65 minutes, and with more cuts than most films twice that length. That sounds overwhelming, yes, but Medina’s film — even if I didn’t necessarily find it to be of equal interest from minute to minute — often flows at the speed of human thought, which is to say: let 88:88 take over, and you’ll find something to latch onto. As we said, “[The] associations it creates between every image isn’t often totally clear, partly because the film doesn’t necessarily give you the time to create the link, but also because each one feels so personal. Yet this isn’t an isolating film in which the ‘meaning’ is teasingly locked in the creator’s head, but rather continually figuring itself out.”
For almost a year, seeing it has required a festival trip, FestivalScope access, or a MUBI subscription; today, however, it’s been made about as accessible as anything else via a free, HD YouTube stream. (Just remember that the sound drops probably don’t require an adjustment of your television.) Go forth! You may never again hear underground hip-hop the same way.
See it below: