This is a movie that deserves a better than average rating. It's a disturbing film that touches on issues of personal relationships in an increasingly virtual world, identity when anything can be copied, cloned and tinkered with and what our place in the world is. All the science fiction in it is just a pretext or a tool to examine an idea and the whiny, terribly confused and overdramatic main character is not a reflection of the viewer, but of the world itself. I have a feeling that so many people rated the film poorly not because they were too dumb to get it, but because they actually got it and it was too close to home.
Is it a perfect film? No. It feels like a play and all the special effects and futuristic images deepen the feeling rather than dispelling it. But because it is a play, the script is well thought out, the acting is important, the details are important. It's not a coincidence that there is a "Just a fable" poster in the guy's room. Probably the biggest issues with it is that it starts real slow and then ends in a performance piece and just when it's gripping, the last 3 minutes of the film are just bad. Hint for filmmakers: it doesn't matter how smart your film is if the last few minutes suck!
Bottom line: I liked the film. It's something that has many interesting ideas explored in a gut wrenchingly way. The acting is good, the atmosphere is really well done, the script is smart. And that for a movie that is mostly Lithuanian with Romanian VFX. And very timely! The perfect quarantine film.
