1915

On the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a Los Angeles theater director (Simon Abkarian) prepares a play commemorating the horror, but is beset by demonstrators, literally on all sides: Turks denying that the atrocity ever happened, and Armenians outraged that the play shows an Armenian woman (Angela Sarafyan) surviving by abandoning her family for a Turkish soldier. Worse yet, a series of eerie accidents suggests the presence of ghostly protesters. First-time writer-directors Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian grapple valiantly with their theme, but it seems too vast for their fledgling talents and their limited budget. There are many solemnly striking images, thanks in large part to the haunting faces of the actors, but the story is muddled, unfocused and pounded across with sledgehammers. J.L.