Paradise

This movie had everything to be great. The premise was good, to say the least, the beginning was exciting, the performances committed and the course chosen pointed in the direction of something really prosperous.

In addition, the ethical issues raised by a group called Adam, which violently opposes the shady methods of manipulating the life span of the poor in exchange for money , run by the AEON company, are extremely valid and provide material for a realistic reflection on a possible future that lies ahead of our time. In fact, this discussion would have been the best thing in the movie if the script had gone down this road.

But halfway through the movie the script becomes a seesaw with so many ups and downs. The story loses its breath and becomes a little lame. It improves a little with the reappearance of the terrorist core Adam, adding some action to the lukewarm script, but it falls off again with poor script choices as the film nears its climax.

When personal moral dilemmas that don't quite fit appear out of nowhere, things turn lukewarm again and the movie goes downhill again. And so it goes until the end. It's not bad and keeps the interest, but good wasted characters and an undefined script about where it wants to go, partially spoil what could have been great. In the end, it leaves a slight hook for a possible continuation.

It's hard for me to understand how Netflix can allow complete amateurs write movie scripts.

They do it again and again. How can this be a sustainable business model? Put 15 million dollars in a movie based on a script that any 16 years old could have written better.

I mean look at this mess of a script. What is this? Apart from the premise, which is not completely new but interesting, it is just complete garbage. There are no character build ups, there is no interesting dramatic goal, there are not story steps, there isn't even a central conflict, it's just a huge chaos all over the place.

None of the characters come even close to touching us. The antagonist has one single encounter with the hero, where they both say one sentence, no conflict. We never learn what motivates her.

The hero saves a woman that doesn't wanna be saved. His wife. Well, it's said that she is his wife, but we never really come to believe it, as there is zero chemistry between them. They tell each other "I love" you three times in a car, but there is no feeling, it's worse than in a soap opera. Two sex scenes (hello Netflix) add nothing to the chemistry. The actress isn't very convincing, but it's not only her fault. Maybe the makers should have watched some love movies to learn how to establish a bond between a loving couple, especially as this is - or rather should have been - the central motivator of the hero, saving his wife's life.

That's his mission. Unfortunately, she doesn't rally wanna be saved and seems to have given in to her fate. Then she changes her mind and wants to be saved. Then she changes her mind again, because it would mean to harm an innocent person. Then she changes her mind again and almost kills the innocent girl, sleeps with her husband, and finally decides to betray her husband and take the lifetime of the girl, and also break up with the guy who sacrificed his life for her and get pregnant from another guy that appeared out of nowhere (is this the new "female empowerment"?). Frustrated, her now ex-husband joins the terrorist to kill some more people. Why? We never really learn.

It's so bizarre, that it's almost funny. The script actually reminded me of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 film The Room, widely considered the worst film ever made. In this film the actor changes his mind sometimes twice within a scene.

I wonder if the producers come to Netflix with a script so bad, or if the script is okay but Netflix ruins it with their developer team, because they want it to fit their algorithm or whatever.

It's depressing, because the premise would have offered so much potential. For example, only the rich can afford the costly life-time transfer process, and they take it from the poor. Was that too political for Netflix? Why was this huge potential theme never harvested in the movie? Isn't that what's happening right now on this planet, that only the rich can afford top medical care?

Well, but ignoring reality and promoting escapism seems to be the new thing on Netflix, so I guess the filmmakers ran into heavy resistance there. Sad.

Netflix used to be cool, now it's more and more turning into a drug to numb down the oppressed workforce.

A rather dull approach to an interesting subject.

Unfortunately, neither of the characters emerge as multi-faceted human beings, they simply pop out of the script like two-dimensional caricatures, and while the cast does its best to bring these personae to life, their hard work can only go so far in carrying a piece that doesn't hold its ground.

With a few plot twists, the movie tries to gain our attention, but they appear predictable by the time we've finished watching the film.

Despite introducing us to a formidable antagonist, the CEO of the evil AEON corporation, who's capable of eliminating innocent lives for her own profits and interest, we don't get to know much about her either, and the whole characterisation falls flat. Neither does her character design present her as a grey shadowed presence, nor does it do much to make the viewer hate her.

Even the opposing fraction ADAM fighting against AEON is led by a woman with firm beliefs, but that side of the story doesn't contribute anything except bodies dropping left and right. It ultimately leaves us with a question - what really was the point of it all, if neither the negative forces leading the controversial ageist agenda had anything to speak for themselves, nor the resistance party trying to reinstate the status quo.

Although classism and ageism are the obvious themes being dealt by the movie, the social commentary in that arena also feels very thin, resulting in merely a crumbling down of the whole idea that could've created a larger than life image, but never does.

Personally, I was looking forward to this release owing to my own cravings of a good science fiction thriller, but again that ship has sailed without leaving me with much to remember in the end.

Unfortunately, Boris Kunz's feature has only resulted in a run-of-the-mill forgettable viewing experience. As much as I wanted to like this one, it didn't really hand out a significantly building up narrative, nor did it lay out worthy character developments. Its sole dark vision of a society falling apart with a classist billion-dollar company set up at the centre only brings out the obvious view of a dystopian setting, but nothing more than that.

Initially, the German film pushes a great deal to cement its foregrounding issues about the socio-economic divide between different classes of society, ageism, relationships, technological advancements overtaking emotional human ground and more.

But in the end, it reels out a dystopian concept merely on the surface, as a selling point. It lacks profundity and fails to ask the right questions.

I think that Germany is a step ahead here in Europe, lots of European production such as the French one or the Italian one are still attached at the old way of doing cinema, such as Nouvelle vague or Neorealism, Germany during these last few years has demonstrated that has a lot to offer, Dark, Kleo, 1989 and now Paradise. It was not a perfect movie, but it was not predictable and it perfectly show how fragile human nature is and how humans way of thinking can change.

The main protagonist really did an amazing job, his character is very well written like the rest of the script. I wouldn't mind if they do a sequel to this movie. If you liked In time, you'll definitely like this one!

This is a German Sci-Fi film based around the premise that scientists have determined a way to not just extend your life, but buy back your youth. The catch is that your time is coming directly from someone who is DNA compatible with you (I.e. Relatives make a good match and certain ethnic backgrounds are underrepresented). The company who has developed this technology is run like a massive biotech that has Apple like meetings where awards like salesperson of the year are awarded...but the real reason people attend is to hear the CEO speak, a Olivia Theissen. The recipient of the best salesperson award is Max, who we follow throughout the film.

In essence the film is almost a de-evolution of Max's beliefs. In the beginning he is very pro-company and really believes in what they are doing in the most altruistic sense, which is part of what makes him a great salesperson...visiting refugees in a refugee camp and convincing young refugees to donate just 5-10 years for the money to help their entire families immigrate. When his doctor wife is forced to give up 40 years after their home is burnt down...he starts to see things from a different perspective. Meanwhile there is an activist group who believes so strongly against this company and it's practices that they are willing to commit violent crimes like murder.

Interesting from a psychological perspective, I enjoyed this German Sci-fi film...not as much as I enjoyed the Dark series, but I did enjoy it. I think sci-fi fans will think it is a worthy watch, so it gets my recommendation.

My review is based on watching it in it's original German language with English subtitles.