The work of writer, director, and actor Jim Cummings is as enigmatic as it is intriguing. Beginning with his showstopping 2018 debut feature Thunder Road, that he expanded from his short film, he has now become one of the most interesting filmmakers working today with even just a small filmography. Even when he briefly showed up in the recent Halloween Kills, a work far below his talents, he brought a unique presence and life that can’t be replicated. He is already expanding his boundaries and pushing himself into new directions that still remain authentically himself.
That is where we find ourselves at The Beta Test, a chaotic and mysterious story of how one Hollywood agent receives a purple envelope containing a letter offering a sexual encounter with a stranger. The letter and the stranger soon become an obsession that will utterly consume his life. The agent is named Jordan and is played by Cummings himself, bringing his unhinged yet comedic sensibility to ensure the role reaches frightening heights.
Jordan is engaged to his fiancée Caroline, played by an excellent Virginia Newcomb, seen previously in her outstanding role in the Death of Dick Long. Although her work here is less present, Newcomb is again playing a character in a relationship that becomes a nightmare. That is because Jordan is insecure, cruel, vapid, and just generally horrible to be around. That he cheats on his wife is not unexpected, though it still becomes more upsetting as his infidelity becomes his obsession.
The fact that Jordan is a Hollywood agent instills the film with a bit of a self-aware edge about the shallowness of the industry. Cummings wrote and directed the film with collaborator PJ McCabe who had previously had a small role in the darkly funny film The Wolf of Snow Hollow from last year. McCabe now stars in the film in an equally off-putting role as Jordan’s co-worker who shares the actor’s name, PJ, and becomes a confidant as things spiral out of control.
The two use the film to take aim at how empty and callous the work they do can be. Jordan makes many references to how things have to improve for women in their industry, even making a casual throwaway line to it being that way “since Harvey left”. He speaks of this as an obligation, seeming to regret the passing of the “good old days” and all the atrocious behaviors that are no longer allowed. His lip-service to creating a safe and supportive working environement doesn’t stop him from being a monster to his staff, including in an excruciating scene where he berates a female assistant over the depths of his own paranoia and insecurity.
Further, the letters offering anonymous sex are causing partners to murder their spouses, resulting in a film that is keenly anarchic with flashes of well-timed violence coming at key moments. As Jordan goes deeper down the rabbit hole to investigate, including making the bold move of impersonating a cop several times, he begins to suspect there is something coordinated behind it all. He is despicable and borderline sociopathic to those around him, though it still remains engaging as hell to see him unravel the strings.
The tone and style of the direction contributes to this well, making the world feel as though it is slowly warping before your eyes. This is complimented in the use of everything from music to occasionally disparate color palettes that go from the bland grey of the office to the more surreal scenes lightly infused with purple elsewhere. It feels like a fever dream that you can’t escape no matter how hard you may want to. There is nothing quite like how it gets under your skin at every turn.
Significant breaks in reality challenge us to question whether the perspective of our protagonist is wholly reliable. A plate spins on the ground when Jordan wakes up at night, people seem to stare at him even when just out at dinner, and the mood creates a general sense that something is off. This builds to a persistent and profound sense that something is seriously wrong beyond the central paranoia of the protagonist.
Some have compared this to the sensibility of David Lynch, as those are wont to do when there is anything weird that shows up in a film. There may certainly be some degree of that in there, though the impression that stuck with me the most was almost closer to a film like 2018’s misunderstood and underappreciated Under the Silver Lake. Both share a sense of unease and mystery threaded throughout that is deeply unnerving.
Importantly, The Beta Test keeps itself more grounded and down to Earth than any of those aforementioned reference points. It is a film all its own that is frequently hard to pin down. A monologue near the end of the film, taking place in the stark emptiness of a parking garage, by Cummings is a high point. He seems almost consumed by his own flaws and fears in a moment of clarity. He is a man losing control and feeling it all slip away.
It is Cummings who strikes a balance between creating sympathy and, in many parts, revulsion towards his character. He is like Jim Carrey crossed with Norman Bates, wearing his suits as a shield to mask his own complete and utter lack of anything resembling a sense of self. This struggle is as mesmerizingly realized as the rest of the film around him, making you laugh in one moment and recoil in fear at the next. It is an all-encompassing piece of work, Cummings’s most ambitious yet, a high compliment considering all that has already come before it.
The Beta Test is in select theaters and all rental platforms starting November 5th.