gazer

A small, hunched New Jersey woman named Frankie with intense eyes and a severe pixie cut is the central protagonist of the low-budget mystery “Gazer,” from first-time feature director Ryan J. Sloan.

The movie’s DIY-to-OMG backstory alone is invigorating: A movie-mad New Jersey electrician, director Sloan and his cinephile collaborator Mastroianni crammed in filming on weekends over two years, then shockingly landed “Gazer” in the Directors’ Fortnight at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, an unheard-of triumph for so unpedigreed an entry.

“Gazer” suggests something of a bright future for the plucky, confident genre enthusiasts who’ve willed it into existence.

For one thing, from the tight opening shot on Mastroianni’s eyes, “Gazer” offers that reliable construct of a witnessed crime.

But I'm a terrible crystal gazer and I've been in this for long enough to know that anything can happen.