Incontrol

I have mixed feelings after watching Incontrol. The good points were that the story is innovative and the actors were'nt bad. But unfortunately even if the story was innovative it clearly missed the chance to bring a good sci-fi movie. It's a missed opportunity because it could have been much more interesting if developped better. Now you just get a mediocre story, that quickly becomes boring to watch, while the potential to have an intriguing story was there. I didn't get the end at all. Maybe it was open for interpretation but at that point I was already bored with this movie and so I couldn't care less. But I would watch another movie with the same concept if only the story was better.

I have to say up front that the basic theme of the film - being able to experience existence in any other physical state than being in one's own body - is of great personal interest to me, both personally and, at one point, professionally.

So, the filmmakers were at a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage, with respect to me.

That said: from an objective view, they did pretty well with what one can assume of their budget, and the script largely worked with the concept of exploring the meaning of the self alongside the potential trappings brought by the ability to manipulate the reality of that self.

Again, in context of what the cast and crew had to work with, the acting is above b-movie mediocre, albeit not so much as to distract from the obvious and expected dropped lines or unrealized punch points in the script.

Speaking of which, the script laid out a scenario with great potential only to get too bogged down in minutiae and unnecessary dialogue.

I still go back to the ambition and creativity of the premise - body-swapping-type stories have been done many times, but this falls outside the norm due to the psycho-physical interaction and heavier philosophical questions that ensue. This isn't low-budget Face-Off or another failed attempt at the ideas behind Transcendence. These guys went for the gold.

They didn't hit gold due to budget, but at least they tried.

A worthy watch for any sci-fi or sci-leaning fantasy fan. A solid 6 rating - that rating meaning at least 60% of all I've ever seen were lesser than this in some way.

Then again, that's out of at least 10k, so you do the math.

It felt like an unfinished film, so much of it wasn't explained. Despite that I enjoyed it and thought the idea behind it was good

I've never watched a movie that seemed so unfinished. What they had was pretty good. Perhaps they can get the bucks to clear up all the loose ends. Give it a watch because it is interesting and acting is decent, but beware you may feel unsatisfied when it's over.

Was drawn into seeing 'Incontrol' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise (one of the most innovative for any film seen recently) and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Incontrol' is a film it doesn't do enough with its potential (although there are far bigger wastes of potential in film) and could have been much better, can't say that it is a great film because it isn't. It is not a terrible film though, as far as recent low-budget film viewings go it's one of the better and more watchable ones easily. It certainly could have been far worse, considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre at best and irredeemably terrible at worst.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Incontrol' is surprisingly well shot and easy on the eye, was expecting a cheap looking film and to me that wasn't the case here. The music is suitably ominous.

Found that the acting was not bad, found it better than average if not much more.

Also that there were a few nice moments that intrigued and there was tension, suspense and creepiness, the first half is very promising and has a good deal of unsettlement. At least the film was not hard to follow and the story structure was generally coherent.

Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and after the promising first half the film became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary in the second, with the outcome revealed too early and the ending not feeling tied up enough. The characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them and some of the decision making and behaviour induces face-palming. The effects are ropy at best.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever (definitely one of the worst assets), while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags with very little going on worth caring about. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Tonally, it feels unfocused and muddled from trying to do too much.

There are too many underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, too much of the second half is unimaginative and more odd than creepy, with little sense of horror or urgency. Momentum sags later on and the direction has its assured moments but inexperience also shows. There is a general lack of creativity and shocks.

The sound editing can be on the obvious and over-loudly recorded side. The editing is haphazard at times, but really it's the script and the second half that are most problematic here.

Overall, not great but worth a one time watch. 5/10 Bethany Cox