EMPYREAN: Watch This Intensely Beautiful Trailer For The Canadian Indie

Filmed in black and white, this domestic drama appears to come with a sci-fi slant. There could also be a spiritual tinge to Lee's film as well as Empyrean, by its definition as a noun, is the highest part of Heaven, where God and the angels live, and as an adjective, belonging to or deriving from Heaven. Very curious of course. 

On the eve of his 30th birthday, William Fischer is forced to reevaluate himself following a near-death experience. His attempts at returning to life as he knew it are obstructed by a psychic awakening beyond comprehension. Reality crumbles as he journeys further into the depths of his consciousness, nearing a truth which suggests meaning. His growing disconnect from those around him is accentuated by the deterioration of his marriage and the impulse to return to nature.

A sensory experience that is both immersive and deeply felt, Empyrean is a haunting meditation on the intersection of time, space and memory. In the vein of introspective genre fare such as Upstream Color, Solaris and Don't Look Now, Empyrean is a hopeful account of disparate individuals seeking out meaning and redemption, as well as a reverent bow to the unknowable.

I met Thomas (Tommy) in Montreal during Fantasia and Frontières . Apart from having mad mustache waxing skills, which put mine to shame, it is clearly evident that he and his cinematographer, Bradley Stuckel, have great eyes for standout imagery. If the narrative does indeed dance along to the same tune as a Shane Carruth film then color us intrigued. Throwing Solaris and Don't Look Now into the mix is just more fuel for our speculative fires.