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The orphan Adrián Vega has the ability of foreseeing the future and is adopted by the bookseller Samuel (Héctor Alterio). He joins Samuel's group of clairvoyants called Utopia that protects people that will make a difference and Samuel teaches him how to control his power. Years later, Adrián (Leonardo Sbaraglia) fails in stopping a deranged Utopia member from exploding a car bomb and the wife and daughter of the police inspector Hervé (Tchéky Karyo) are murdered and Hervé is blinded by the glass window.

Adrián decides to leave the group, but Samuel convinces him to participate in his last assignment, saving the life of the school teacher Ángela (Najwa Nimri) that has joined an evil sect. Meanwhile Hervé is hired by Ángela's mother to brainwash her daughter and bring her back home.

"Utopia" is an unknown thriller with a promising and intriguing storyline about a group of clairvoyants, but with messy and deceptive screenplay and execution. The director Maria Ripoll does build neither tension nor romance, and there is no chemistry between Ángela and Adrián. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Utopia"

Utopia has an intriguing premise that it unfortunately fails to live up to. The film revolves around Adrián (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a young clairvoyant who is a member of a mysterious group called Utipia. The aims of the group are to protect people who will make the world a better place, from threats on their life foreseen by Adrián. But the young man leaves the group after a failed attempt to stop one of the members from a killing spree, resulting in the death of a police inspector's wife and daughter.

Years later, he is persuaded by his foster father Samuel (Héctor Alterio) to participate in one last mission for the group: save the life of Ángela (Najwa Nimri), who has become embroiled with a cult. But opposing him is Hervé (Tcheky Karyo), the cop who was blinded in the explosion that killed his family. He is hired by Ángela's mother to "deprogram" her daughter.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, the director and the scriptwriters fail to generate much tension. Director Maria Ripoll seems more interested in the relationship between Ángela and Adrián rather than developing the thriller aspects of the movie. As a result there is little sense of urgency to the film, and thus audience interest ebbs.

Further hampering the film is the fact that the characters never really come to life. Nimri, so sexy in El Metodo, seems unable to give any dimension to her underwritten character. Neither does she develop any chemistry with Sbaraglia, which also compromises the love story. The best performance is left to the veteran Karyo, who seems to have the best-written role with the most well defined motivations.

The film also fails to develop its concept. Utopia could have been an examination of the two opposing points of view: predestination vs. free will. But the filmmakers are uninterested. In fact, they ultimately settle on the most pat message possible to end the film, namely that despite clairvoyant visions, the future can still be changed, which honestly is kind of trite. There's also an intriguing scene in which the cultists murder a family in as part of a rite to gain clairvoyance, but the film unfortunately never picks up on this.

Still, the filmmaker does succeed in creating some intriguing visuals to punch up the film. One particular highlight is the last scene of the film, where Adrián, who now fully accepts his gift, is surrounded by his visions. Another is the opening of the film, reminiscent of the film Seven, which intercuts the activities of the serial killer with scenes of Adrián experiencing a nose-bleed as he tries to track down the killer. But these scenes, while visually striking, fail to contribute anything substantial to the film.

Sad to say, the best one can say about Utopia is that it is disappointing and fails to live up to its potential. When this film was screened at Pelikula, the recently concluded Spanish film festival, Maria Ripoll was in attendance, and she admitted in a short forum afterward that she is really more into comedies than thrillers, and that she doesn't even like violence. In this light, perhaps she should stick to comedies like the exemplary Tu Vida en 65.

No, this works. The buildup is great, and the payoff pays off. What will it take for a future-seer to believe that they can change as well as see the future? Charming performances abound (the hired thug was the only grating note on that front for me), the visualisation has lots more to offer theme-wise than just smart jump-cutting and the sense of something big being at stake is palpable.

If a Utopian's job is to protect the interests of those who don't even know they need protection, then who will protect the interests of the protectors? Made me think of all those great sci fi writers of the 50s-70s who dealt with moral human questions in a futuristic context.

My video store offered this as optional B pic free of charge when lending a blockbuster. And to be honest here the blockbuster was topped (what was it again? :) Eerie camera effects, a very strange setting from start time skips and ongoing suspense made this a pleasant and intelligent surprise. Well not that much of a surprise as it's from Spain, see? (Open yr Eyes...etc) Characters were believable, are allowed to grow emotionally with film time and torn apart like Angela with clinging to their companions and her own feeling for justice.

Don't expect a big bang at the end, better be prepared for 90 minutes of tense movie experience - I recommend it!

Perhaps you know the feeling; scouting your local videostore for a nice unknown and trying to avoid the usual fodder that has been put out by the likes of UFO or nu image to name just a few.

So I grabbed this movie, after putting back 2 others that were indeed produced by the above companies... nowadays a horror fan is always on the brink of starving, not enough films to satisfy the taste.

And it was a pleasant surprise..well most of it. The story involves a man that can see in the future, a school teacher and a policeman that are all linked together. And for most of the running time the suspense and the urge to know where the plot is taking you works very well. Extremely nice camera-work and images, combined with subtle effects build up the expectations and the tension. And this is ultimately where the film fails.

Because in the end there is nothing to show for, no climax, no conclusion , just a dud and that is a real shame cause the film looks very promising.

But in the light of what can be found in your local videostore I can recommend it. It is subtle, very nicely filmed and keeps the attention on an intelligent level for most of the film and that is something you will not get with most of the latest outings in the genre. Just don't expect a good finale.