A Trip Elsewhere
May 5th, 2025
MOVIE: A TRIP ELSEWHERE
STARRING: ANDREA GEONES, MAURA MANNLE, HAYES DUNLAP, J.R. SAWYERS
DIRECTED BY: J.R. SAWYERS
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 1 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
There’s a certain bravery in independent filmmaking—the willingness to take a risk, to throw a personal vision into the world and hope it resonates. That vulnerability is what makes indie cinema both beautiful and heartbreaking. When it works, it deserves celebration. But when it falls short, there’s a unique kind of sadness in watching an artist take a leap and miss the mark.
A Trip Elsewhere begins with a promising concept: four people take LSD during the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to escape reality and see where the trip leads them. What unfolds, however, is a series of odd, increasingly redundant hallucinations that ultimately feel uninspired. Watching an indie film can sometimes be a risk in itself, and in this case, the result is sheer disappointment.
Written and directed by J.R. Sawyers, the film introduces us to four loosely connected characters brought together by chance. Sorina (Andrea Geones) is heading to meet her friend Amy (Maura Mannle) for some recreational drug use. Upon arrival, she runs into a pizza delivery guy, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend, Lenny (Hayes Dunlap). The pizza was for Dale (played by Sawyer himself), and after it’s ruined, the group decides to take what is described as a lethal dose of LSD to escape the grim reality of the pandemic.
From there, the narrative begins to splinter. Sorina emerges as the central figure. She’s been sleeping in her car to distance herself from her newborn child, but her trip quickly morphs into a surreal journey: her dead parents return, her nanny loops through the same questions, and her child is nowhere to be found.
The other characters drift in and out. Amy wrestles with distinguishing reality from hallucination. Dale exists in a perpetual state of rage. Lenny, despite being declared dead, reappears in different forms throughout the film. These bizarre, out-of-body sequences aim for the avant-garde but quickly become repetitive and dull rather than provocative or emotionally resonant.
There are hints of inspiration from the works of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Synchronic, The Endless), but A Trip Elsewhere lacks their narrative precision and thematic depth. The film leans heavily on green-screen effects that often feel cheap, resembling low-budget SYFY productions, though even those occasionally manage to entertain.
In the end, A Trip Elsewhere feels like a film that wants to be weird for the sake of being weird. It lacks a compelling message or emotional core, making the trip more tedious than transformative. While the cast and crew put in the effort typical of independent projects, the final product falls short. There’s potential in Sawyer’s ambition, but he needs a stronger story—something that truly earns the journey.
1 ½ STARS
A TRIP ELSEWHERE IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO RENT ON PRIME VIDEO AND WATCH ON TUBI.
Written by: Leo Brady
