Surprisingly sophisticated for an incipient feature film, Rapture in Blue is a psychosexual thriller, written and directed by accomplished local actor, Ryder Houston. Rapture in Blue explores the discrepancy between the life that Jason Aylwood (Bryce Lederer) has chosen, and where his true desires lie. Jason is dating Valerie (Sarah Greenfield) and decides to take her to his childhood home. There they discover a guy named Sebastian (Tanner Garmon) who’s still in the process of moving in, when Jason slips his key into the front door lock. The two have barely recovered from their surprise when he invites them in. Sebastian is that most dangerous of men, fetching and unapologetically rapacious. Not that he does anything wildly inappropriate, but his eyes and demeanor tell a different story.
After Jason and Valerie make their departure, things between them start to unravel. Intimate Polaroids taken by an apparent stalker are turning up. Jason catches glimpses of some ghastly, terrifying phantom. Lovemaking attempts between he and Valerie feel forced and vapid. Jason seems to be repeatedly pulled into some kind of intensely disturbing fugue state. Some force beyond his control is tormenting him, playing havoc with his sanity.
There is something deliciously audacious at work in Rapture in Blue. From the outset, with a quote by Sigmund Freud, referencing the id (or shadow self) Houston sets up the dynamic lurking at the core of this eerie, yet enticing story. The id is the part of us that emerges and manifests our most repressed attractions. For all the progress mankind has made, there are still people who treat the queer community with contempt and aggression. Does his intersection with Sebastian trigger an unsettling epiphany for Jason? Do the visions intruding on Jason’s psyche evoke his worst fears? When Rapture playfully raises the assertion no lover wants to hear: It’s not you, it’s me, the duplicity isn’t lost on us. Yes it is Jason, and it isn’t.
Rapture has a purposeful, if trippy visual style. It falls somewhere on the continuum between the cunning of Nicholas Roeg and the gauziness of Robert Altman. Houston cleaves less to verisimilitude than phantasmagoria. There’s a tenuous tether to actuality, but just barely. Poor Jason has entered a place in his unconscious that refuses to play nice with the life he’s embraced. But only because he knew no differently. There may be some missteps, here and there, but Ryder Houston’s Rapture in Blue portends a future of cinematic odyssey that’s gripping, beguiling and implacable. The best filmmakers know how to gloriously mess with our minds, while remaining enjoyable. I’m thinking this describes Mr. Houston.
Available for streaming May 1st on Amazon Prime Video.