Cold Souls

Cold Souls is high concept low rent filmmaking at its best. Paul Giamatti plays an actor named Paul Giamatti. The plot takes surreal turns not unlike Being John Malkovich in that the lead character must solve a metaphysical conundrum.
This first feature from Sophie Barthes would've played better as a one-hour Twilight Zone and in fact its best moments are the sci-fi induced themes and devices that pop up throughout. Other times we're drawn to long takes of Giamatti standing in the freezing wind of St. Petersburg or sand swept shores of New York City. There's poetry in Cold Souls to be sure but a lot of it feels telegraphed way ahead of its arrival.
Giamatti, playing Uncle Vanya on stage, feels he's lost himself in the anxiety of this Chekovian character. He seeks a soul transplant, a new and unregulated scientific process he reads about in New Yorker. Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn) heads up the firm that provides soul removal and storage. For Giamatti the painless operation backfires and results in alienation from his wife and fellow actors.
It turns out a mysterious woman (Dina Korzun) acts as a mule, downloading souls into her psyche and delivering them to a similar set-up in Russia. Somehow Giamatti wants his original soul back and finds he has to travel to St. Petersberg all the while negotiating with the testy new owners of his soul.
Cold Souls has plenty of smart moments but its main appeal will be to sci-fi fans and indie stalwarts.