OXV: The Manual

Some movies require you to take the "reviewers rule book" and toss it.

This is one of them.

The writer/director Darren Paul Fisher appears to be one of those rare auteurs who releases a work every four or five years and then disappears or hibernates or goes back to his home planet.

This is an extraordinary film. Even now I not sure if this is a love story sugar-coated with one of the most complex metaphysical scripts of all time, or a metaphysical script grounded in a wonderfully odd love story.

However, as one of the main characters quips in the very last scene, "Does it even matter?"

The film is mesmerizing and engaging and challenging. It makes the MATRIX look like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The scenes in the present with the adult cast are perfect and flawless, but the flashbacks with the child actors are beyond even that, they are hypnotic.

A great film by a gifted auteur. Memorable. Enjoyable. Astonishing.

Highly recommended

A very original idea that kept me thinking throughout the movie. The movie reminded me of Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek director of The Lobster and Dogtooth, very dystopian. A very well made low budget sci-fi that managed to hit far above it's weight. A big thumbs up.

If it is true that the position of sub atomic particles can be accurately predicted (and it seems to be), and if it is true that we are made of atoms (and we are) then is stands to reason that we can be predicted as well. And if that is true, then all history - into the future - is waiting for us already. This is one part of the movie. But before that, there is another great science fiction story. And true to the good science fiction that it is, it takes a real observable "fact" of our lives (in this case that some people seem to be luckier in most aspects of life than others, being at the right place at the right time etc) and builds it out into a logical conclusion, a little bit beyond "the ordinary" that life usually gives us. And it is well told. The movie starts off a bit slow, but it is used to settle the premise of the story in one's mind, so bear with it. It soon tuns into an intelligent movie that leaves one well satisfied. If you like science fiction (not the bang whiz special effects sort, but the sort rooted in ideas and good story telling)watch this one.

This truly could have been an amazing film deserving of much more than a tepid-warm 7/10.

At first you get the feeling that you're going to watch a love story unravel... but this slowly shifts between romance, science fiction and thriller at points. I barely noticed the transition myself... much in the way that District 9 morphs from a documentary into a science fiction tale seamlessly. They balanced each with precision so you don't know quite what you're watching at any given moment.

This film tries to convey many different concepts and fringe concepts ranging from physics to philosophy... but does not appropriate them convincingly or with clarity. I fully understood what it was trying to do and say... but it had tried to make the web of intrigue too intricate. It had many holes and unexplained loose ends which towards the middle made it unbelievable and pretentious. You know what they say - the more complex something is... the more chance there is of something going wrong. That applies with anything from technology to relationships (or storytelling in this case).

The merit of this film mainly lies in it's simpler plot points, the acting and direction.

If you're one of those people who doesn't believe that even fiction has to be believable (to some extent) to be enjoyable or you simply just don't understand what the concept of OXV is... then this is your film.

What would you do, if you were destined to fail, but then had the opportunity to level the playing field of your heart's desire?

I luv'd it. It's a gem.