A Mind-Bending Anthony Mackie Movie Is Conquering Netflix
An Anthony Mackie sci-fi movie is finding some love on Netflix.
This article is more than 2 years old
Anthony Mackie continues to make a name for himself. The star, who is currently one half of the popular The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney+, also has the #8 most popular film on streamer Netflix in the U.S.
Synchronic stars Anthony Mackie as Steve Denube. First and foremost, Steve is a ladies’ man but works as a paramedic with his partner Dennis Dannelly, played by 50 Shades franchiser Jamie Dornan. The pair are called out to a series of bizarre cases in which either the victims are dead under very strange circumstances or they have survived with wild stories in tow. In each case, though, there is a link to a new designer drug called Synchronic.
As these cases unfold, Anthony Mackie’s Steve finds out that he is dying of cancer and has a short six weeks to live. The cancer involves Steve’s underdeveloped and non-calcified pineal gland. While trying to find the source of the drug, Steve discovers that Synchronic is actually a tie travel pill and it caused the disappearance of Dennis’s daughter Brianna. The pill also is the only hope of finding her.
The cases, as they were, only become more and more strange. The first involves an attack with a sword. The second an entirely burned body. The third, a snake bite from an eastern diamondback, which hasn’t been seen in the area for decades. All the while, Anthony Mackie’s Steve is beginning to experiment with the drug.
As Steve is beginning to understand the how’s and when’s to use the time travel pill, he realizes that he needs more. At the local smoke shop, he attempts to buy it all but finds out that the drug has been discontinued. He meets a mysterious man there, who wishes to purchase Steve’s stash for a nominal amount. When Steve declines, he finds the man the next day in the closet. The man turns out to be the scientist who invented the drug. He gives Steve more information on the drug and how it alters the pineal gland which alters the perception of time.
As Steve moves back and forth in time trying to find Brianna, his relationship with Dennis sours. Dennis thinks that the sudden theft of morphine is Steve’s doing, which is not the case. As Steve and Dennis try to patch things up, Steve is finally able to catch up to Brianna. But Steve only has one last pill.
Synchronic got its premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival with hopes of gaining a wider release. The movie was directed by Justin Benson, who also wrote the script, and Aaron Moorhead, who have teamed up in the past as directors in films such as Resolution, Spring, and The Endless. The directing duo are now also working on Marvel’s Moon Knight, a Disney+ series that stars Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke.
Even though the Anthony Mackie film never received its wide release, it was met fairly well critically. Dan Jolin from Empire Magazine says of the movie, “A smart indie sci-fi which has much to say and some great ideas, all wrapped up in a designer-drug-based premise that makes it sound less interesting than it actually is.”
Anthony Mackie started his career 19 years ago on the Eminem film 8 Mile. He was then seen in movies such as Hollywood Homicide, The Manchurian Candidate, Million Dollar Baby, We Are Marshall, and The Hurt Locker, a movie in which he really began to open eyes. After finding times on other movies like Man on a Ledge, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Gangster Squad, Mackie then made a huge career move by grabbing the role of Sam Wilson aka Falcon, on Captain America: Winter Soldier.
Since that time, Anthony Mackie has starred in a number of movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He reprised his role as Falcon in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. All which led to the six-episode adventure known as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. During this time, Mackie was also part of another big-name series, this one on Netflix, starring as Takeshi Kovacs in Altered Carbon.
On top of Synchronic on Netflix, Anthony Mackie also has the feature Outside the Wire on the streamer. Up next for Mackie is the feature The Woman in the Window, a murder mystery co-starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman. After that, Mackie is slated to play a young Johnnie Cochran, famous for his defense and acquittal of O.J. Simpson (“if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!”), in Signal Hill. The young lawyer takes on a police brutality case in 1981.
Until that time, tune in to Netflix and check out Anthony Mackie in Synchronic.
