Shooting on a shoestring budget is no easy task. Shooting a sci-fi picture on a shoestring budget is damn near impossible. Taking a cue from George Lucas' THX 1138, and incorporating the style of Godard and the social commentary of Romero (Night of the Living Dead), director Michael Gibson has fashioned a haunting portrait of the near future.

Numb features a society plagued by disease. The cure; a super drug known only as "the Drip." A young woman seemingly immune to the disease searches amid the madness for an important man in her life. Her journey brings her face to face with a world gone crazy, and a nutty, militant individual gone even crazier.

Michael Gibson took a reported seven and a half years to complete this project, and while it is extremely low-budget, it isn't lacking in a striking visual sense or outstanding performances.

The film isn't told in a straight forward narrative, but the fashion in which the plot unfolds isn't at all confusing thanks to some truly impressive editing.

What's more, most of the picture is shot in black and white adding to an already moody and highly atmospheric film experience. My hat goes off to the cinematographers for their innovative creativity.

The performances here are exceptional. Mallory Campell is vulnerable but self assured in the lead. Her despair is completely apparent, and she's a knock-out to boot. Bruce Goodchild is also impressive as the man standing in Campell's way. He's energetic and quite terrifying as a man with a God complex.

I must admit, I did figure out where Numb was headed, and the actual plague that has taken over society, wasn't particularly surprising to me, but the journey is well worth taking and the special attention paid to the characters and their situations were both unexpected and fulfilling.

Michael Gibson shows potential for greatness with this effort. Numb has elements of last year's underrated Equilibrium as well as John Carpenter's little seen gem They Live, but a smaller budget has forced him (actually, I prefer the term allowed) to put an emphasis on character, and certainly, Numb moves at a much different pace. By the end of this movie, I felt for Campbell and her plight.