There is a magic spot, in the woods, where you stand on a rock, announce a year from your past, and are transported to it. When you get back, your body feels very cold, so if the temperature is low, it will be easier to acclimate back to the present. One may have some questions about the science behind this, the movie’s central conceit, but, as we are entering the long winter months, we want to believe that the cold means warmth and that our hibernation will be restorative.
Warmth is at the heart of this DIY time-travel film, by Massachusetts natives Matt Farley and Sam Roxbury, shot mostly in Danvers and Peabody, with a cast entirely drawn from nearby Massachusetts communities. Fading childhood memories and suspended romance are resolved through the liberating improbability of a story made up amongst friends. The suspension of disbelief will rightfully disarm your critical faculties, so that you can surrender to the warmth of the black and white photography, the small-town dialogue, the bluesy songs, the droll jokes (“Acclimate, Poopy! Acclimate!”).
Farley is perhaps better known as an astoundingly prolific songwriter, having recorded around 24,000 songs, at the time of writing, many about American towns. (His “Lexington Ode” can be found here.)
Unbridled creativity, lightness and good humor run through his oeuvre, the Magic Spot, and, undoubtedly, will be on display at the Lexington Venue, this coming Tuesday, with Farley and other members of the cast in attendance.