The Actor ★★½

Paul Cole (André Holland) is told he is an actor. After waking up in a hospital bed with amnesia, he remembers little of his life. To make matters worse, he is told he was struck in the head after being caught in an affair and is away from home. He lives in New York yet has awoken in Ohio. Set in the 1950s, The Actor portrays Paul’s journey back to New York and his ensuing confusion in trying to make sense of his life. This is no easy feat as Paul’s only belongings are the clothes he wears and a few dollars in his wallet.

In the small town of Jeffords, Ohio, Paul takes on a job to be able to save up to afford the train fare back to New York. He meets Edna (Gemma Chan), a kind woman, and the two fall in love. Life is cozy in Jeffords, cinematographer Joe Passarelli bathing these scenes with yellow tones and bright lights, invoking a stillness and calm as we see dust suspended in the air. The effect is dreamlike and is felt by Paul until his instincts overpower him and he is compelled to return to New York to Edna’s dismay. Their somberness – Paul’s in his destiny-driven pull to New York and Edna in her unfulfilled desire for Paul – will linger after the film’s credits and is testament to Holland’s and Chan’s chemistry in their roles.

Despite his efforts to uncover clarity, Paul feels all the more disoriented after he returns to his New York apartment and experiences strange occurrences on set for a role. Director Duke Johnson likewise aims to evoke a sense of mystery for audiences by having a few actors play multiple roles in The Actor and by suggesting a Truman Show-esque construct. Just as Paul has to uncover information about his past, we are tasked with determining what information about Paul’s life is true and what, if anything, is a fabrication.

The Actor is notably a homage to the 1950s and the Golden Age of Television. Paul’s landlord in Jeffords watches the television program ‘A Daily Heart’ religiously, and the show’s title card becomes a source of intrigue when attempting to demystify Paul’s incident and his identity. The Actor is at its best visually with artfully composed shots such as reflections of characters on a television set though, like Paul, is uncertain of what to make of its identity. The film is Johnson’s first solo feature film, but you may be familiar with his co-directing credit on Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa or his animated direction in Severance’s “Lumon is Listening” video. Johsnon’s The Actor illustrates his promise as a director, though finding a more assured voice in his filmmaking will be needed to match that of his collaborators.