Test Pattern

Structure is key to Test Pattern, the provocative drama from writer/director Shatara Michelle Ford that posits whether one particular relationship can withstand a sexual assault.

Competently made and acted, Ford’s feature film debut opens on a mysterious, unsettling scene, then jumps to Renesha (Brittany S. Hall, Nappily Ever After) and Evan (Will Brill, Noah Weissman from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) meeting and falling in love.

Though they’re clearly a well-matched couple, the strength of their bond is challenged after a night our with her friend Amber (Gail Bean, Snowfall) lands Renesha in the bed of a predatory stranger. It’s a shocking turn of events, but also where Ford reveals that the film’s ambiguous introductory shot was at this very moment at the scene of the crime, and that she’s been masterfully building toward it all along.

Once Renesha is reunited with Evan and tearfully informs him of what happened, he dedicates his day to getting her a rape kit — doubtlessly the right move, but one that dominates the rest of Test Pattern in a largely repetitive and frustration-filled cycle that nevertheless exposes the inadequate system currently in place to address such issues.

Perhaps that advocacy is Ford’s primary objective, and if so it’s a noble effort that’s bound to educate and infuriate any viewer with a functioning heart and soul. But even with a loving couple worth rooting for at the film’s core, it’s somewhat of a thin premise for even an 80-minute work.

Grade: B. Not rated, but with adult language and themes. Available to rent via kinomarquee.com

(Photo: Kino Lorber)