Written and directed by Chase Palmer, the Naked Singularity suffers a little bit from being overly complex. Palmer, who is credited as a writer on the remake of It, has a lot going on here, and the results can be a little mixed. The difficulty lies in keeping track of the shifting allegiances amongst the characters as they chase after drugs. Things become clear at the end, but it can be frustrating at some points.

Casi (John Boyega) is a public defender completely burned out by the daily grind of fighting hopeless battles for his clients. He’s idealistic in that he really wants to help his clients clear their names, but being idealistic doesn’t always pay the bills, and the system is completely stacked against Casi’s clients. After getting suspended for six months and on the edge of disbarment due to what the court perceives as an ethically questionable action, Casi doesn’t even have his job to keep him afloat anymore. 

Lea (Olivia Cooke) works at a New York City impound lot, and by chance, meets Craig (Ed Skrein). Craig is desperate to get a particular Lincoln Navigator out of impound, and through some creative maneuvering, Lea is able to find out that the car is loaded up with a hefty amount of Mexican cartel cocaine, worth millions of dollars. Eventually, there are many players hot on the trail of the drugs, including Casi, one of his public defender colleagues Dane (Bill Skarsgård), Lea, Craig, a Hasidic crime lord named the Golem (Kyle Mooney), and the cartel themselves. 

The performances in Naked Singularity are excellent. Boyega continues to demonstrate that he is one of the better young actors working today, playing Casi with a world worn weariness that jumps off the screen. For someone who is apparently so young in the movie, you feel the stress and fatigue he goes through daily. This is also true of Olivia Cooke, who has strung together a list of impressive performances as well, which continues here. Lea is a tough talking New York City woman who is running out of chances in life, and Cooke portrays her with subtlety, complexity, and a sense of quiet sadness. Bill Skarsgard brings manic energy and humor to his supporting role as Casi’s co-worker, a small but important piece of the overall picture. Most enjoyable to watch is the chemistry all of them have together. It doesn’t matter who Boyega is on screen with, be it Cooke or Skarsgard, the energy in the interactions is always high and natural. 

There’s also a subplot involving a friend of Casi’s named Angus, who tells Casi that the very fabric of reality itself is about to collapse. Throughout the movie, we are given title cards that inform us of how much time is left until that collapse. Oddly enough, this particular plot point only seems to have minor effects on the narrative, occasionally knocking out the power and distorting the environment. Arguably, this could have been dumped in favor of more focus on Casi and company and would have made for a stronger, more cohesive narrative.

Despite the narrative jumble, Naked Singularity is worth the watch for the energetic direction and tremendous lead performances from Boyega, Cooke, and Skarsgard. 

6 out of 10