Perception (2009)★ 8.8/10

US · 107 min · January 1, 2009

• Drama

Directed by: Wade Wofford

Written by: Wade Wofford

One man walks into a party and sees the art on the walls, the books on the shelves, the bold color that the man by the window is wearing. Another man enters the same party at the same instant and sees the chandelier, the way a shadow falls through the back of a chair and casts bars of light onto the floor behind. If asked to describe this same moment in time to a stranger, that stranger would no doubt conclude that these two men were in two completely different places. When in fact, they were in the same place at the very same instant! Perception explores this breach of experience by glancing into the lives of three individuals: Clarissa, Ralph and Tobias. After the typical college experience, Clarissa moved to NYC. She quickly became jaded, and in time, working her job as an Administrative Assistant came to compromise her self-respect. She felt as one of the common many--a "sell out." And she quit. Today, she lives as a homeless person on the streets of New York. Her brother Ralph--a successful real estate salesman--lives on the 20th floor of 59th Street and Central Park South. He both detests and pities Clarissa. Tobias is a waiter and perpetual student. He has taken night classes for close to ten years, but refuses to take what is required to garner a degree. Perception journeys through the same month of time from each character's point of view, detailing how presumption and mistaken intention leads to great misunderstanding. A moment, revisited from another point of view, takes new dimension--and protagonist and antagonist change places. Perception shines a light upon the curtain that isolates us--the fundamental breach in perspective from one individual to the next.