TheGenreMilkMan

The premise of this film, poster, trailer, general appearance, ect were all my cup of tea, so how did I not like this film? This was hard to get through and I admit I pulled out the phone a couple times because of it. This film could not hold my attention despite the sweet practical effects and makeup. I wanted to like it, and even with that advantage going for it, I hated it. Did not care about the story or the characters once it got rolling, matter of fact, the lead wasn't captivating and anytime Vlad was on screen I actively wanted to stop watching. The fact that this is billed as a comedy is a mistake, not a smirk was cracked, the only moment I'd acknowledge as humor, although I didn't actually laugh, was the scene with Kumail as the guard. I'm a musician myself and that aspect of the story with prog rock was again, my cup of tea, even the genre of music, nope still hated it. This film is proof that just because you have an interesting title and premise, sweet poster art, cool practical effects, appealing cinematography, offbeat tone, film festival reverence, the appearance of originality and "its like evil dead 2 blah blah" your movie can still suck without the two most important aspects working, character and by extension, story/world.

If you like Sci-Fi or Genre Movies in any capacity you, will like this movie! With Sci-Fi, does budget make a difference in how it's received? Absolutely, if you like Sci-Fi you probably like pretty space things and aliens that don't exist so a high budget movie with poor story can still be entertaining which obviously puts low budget Sci-FI movies at a big disadvantage. Luckily, "The Stratum" manages to have pretty good VFX for its low budget, to the point where you can stop thinking about the effect and just follow the story. Is it as pretty as the 50 million dollar version? Of course not, but the story here makes sense and progresses in an entertaining way with likable leads and villains. When you think of the fact that the crew was so minimal here with the two leads wearing many hats, it's even more fulfilling to have enjoyed. This feature is worth the watch and support, keep an eye out for their future projects, I definitely will be!