Quanta

After watching one bad science fiction film after another, I was pleased when I found Quanta - I was very impressed. It's apparently a micro-budget film and if that's the case then the team did an excellent job with meager resources.

This isn't an over-the-top film like a lot of others; it's obvious a lot of care was put into this to make it a story that could easily have been plucked from the real world. The attitudes and emotions of scientific researchers seems on-the-nose and the lab setting and experimental equipment looks like something you'd actually find in a university lab instead of a mad scientist's lair.

I'm much more a fan of realistic science fiction because the filmmakers have to craft a compelling story within much tighter parameters than with the more flamboyant films. Having realistic constraints keeps me "in" the story; those films where anything goes just don't have the same impact for me. Quanta kept me involved in the story for sure.

The acting is top-notch, as is the cinematography, audio and art direction. Quanta looks like a film an A-list cast and crew would create. I hope Nathan Dalton and his team turn out another film soon.

This one's a mashup of "Flowers for Algernon" (Daniel Keyes, 1958) and "Contact" (Carl Sagan, 1985). Although it's derivative, the combo is really something fresh and new. Nathan Dalton manages to create a compelling story by taking elements of those two old science fiction classics and weaving them into a film that keeps you glued to the screen. There's real character development, plenty of clues to help the audience follow the plot, and lots of techno speak that's actually consistent with known science. (Although the idea of "radiation" from "dark" matter is somewhat of an oxymoron.) There are a few other instances of creative license, but for the most part it's believable.

The part where it departs from reality is in the motivations and behaviors of the characters. They seem to make unnatural decisions at times and don't always act like real people. But it's not uncommon in film to bend character behavior to advance the plot, so you just suspend disbelief and enjoy the movie.

The sound track was great. It set the mood and really helped provide clues about the plot and the emotions of the characters. The cinematography was likewise supportive of the moods and plot and didn't overpower the action happening on the screen. The acting performances, from relatively unknown actors, was superb. All these elements in the final product (with an insanely tiny budget) point to an extremely competent director whom I'm sure we have not heard the last of.

Overall, a great film if you are looking for a character-driven drama/scifi with lots of thought-provoking dialogue and you don't care about tons of special effects and starship shootouts.

Triggers: brief headline text ~80wpm, one subtle and minor ethnic reference

A frustrated & obsessed scientist loses his job, but just can't let go of his project - the data & information transfer from Dark Matter/Energy which makes up 95% of the universe as we know it(all of the information of, & in, the Cosmos).

A lot of creative license is used, but I found the movie really enjoyable & the characters likeable (although his assistant was an arrogant spoiled brat that you really wanted to chastise in the most gratuitous fashion possible at times) which carried the story of the costs of obsession, the arrogance that can come with high intellect if it's not kept in check & the unforeseen consequences of causality when it's not.

It was also a warning of putting powerful new tech out into the world without proper R&D, without fully understanding it & the consequences of giving people more knowledge than they can understand (& how it can induce mental health issues & suicide in the wrong hands). Too late for the internet, mobile phones & social media in the real world, obviously!

A warning to all of the dangers of tech, AI & the abuse of technology. Don't lose your humanity people.

One wouldn't necessarily hold that the acting wasn't adequate, or that the production was poor for a low-budget offering, and the premise, which immediately reminded me of Contact (1997), is also intriguing.

Unfortunately, however, the overall presentation just seemed lacking in any real drama. I wasn't in the least invested in the characters or even the outcome and some of the things which occur seem to have been put in to try and flesh out the story somewhat.

It could have been something pretty good, but, in the end, I was just left with a ho-hum feeling of disappointment and missed opportunity.

Yes the acting is not extraordinary, yes the filming quality is not that good, the storyline is OK. Watched it and did not regret "wasting" my time, would I recommended because it was that good, probably not. But if you like movies that have bit of science or tech in it, it's probably worth to watch.