Let's Be Evil

I am fairly easily pleased when it comes to movies, but this one became frustrating to watch with in the first 10 minutes.

What is wrong with it? The story. Everything else about the film was OK like the acting etc. but the story was just plain stupid.

When it started it was OK and logical, but it soon descended into a very poor storyline that seemed was financed because it could be made cheaply, regardless of content.

Really you would be better off watching the commercials.

IMDb must find a way to quell these deliberately manipulated movie ratings. Find out how the rating system is being exploited and put an end to it before users lose all confidence in it. Those who cheat the system should know there's backlash, for every false 10...their film will receive numerous 1's, and neither fairly assesses the movie being reviewed.

Is this an 8 star or higher film? In my eyes, no. A few may believe so, but I believe the vast majority of honest opinions would place it between 4-6. The premise is intriguing and executed moderately. The acting is mediocre. Mostly though, we aren't observing performances, but observing scenes and listening to the accompanying dialogue instead. Thus the editing, CGI and set are of primary importance and I believe the filmmakers did a decent job of it, earning a solid B-.

It's primarily seen through the eyes of our protagonist. She's one of three young adults (in financial straights) who accepts a mysterious assignment to supervise a group of highly gifted children in a top secret advanced learning program. She enters an underground facility which is completely pitch and is given a set of glasses which operates much like Google Glass, only then is she able to see her surroundings and receive any information. This alone kept me questioning what was truly real throughout the film since technology of this nature can control ones perception of reality. It can be programmed and designed to manipulate a person so I was never certain who or what was really happening. The feeling was much like watching films like Black Swan, Vanilla Sky or Inception in that it is somewhat disorientating and one cannot be certain about what's experienced. To be clear, this film is absolutely nothing like the 3 films I've mentioned and it cannot compare; the air of disorientation and uncertainty is all that is in common. At its' core, this is the best thing about the film.

Our protagonist soon realizes that the children are far from average. They are mentally and intellectually far more advanced than most adults who may be considered genius and these prodigy's only pause from their studies to eat a highly regulated diet and sleep a precise amount of time. She alone feels pity for them, voicing it by saying that children should be allowed time to be children, to have recess and play. Her opinion proves to be a critical point to the plot.

I think that more tantalizing visuals and dialogue would have done absolute wonders for the production value of this film. The set was too claustrophobic and lacked ambiance. It reminded me a bit of the lower levels seen on the set of Ex Machina, except a bit more like (as one reviewer stated) "a concrete submarine" meets inner city raver nightclub. Some imagination, space, and attention to detail would have gone a long way since the set was such a critical part of the production. There's no background on the female protagonist nor her co-protagonists which leaves the audience with no concern about their plight. They are nondescript and we learn nothing about them, it didn't even benefit the story to have the co's present. A backstory and some amount of character development was critically missing.

There were some tense moments, more of them would have made the film somewhat thrilling but the run time is fairly short and there's not much in the way of building suspense. One freak-out occurrence and our protagonist is already exiting the facility. She's compelled to stay however, then there's only the second occurrence which is our climax. Throughout the climax you are on a POV trip through darkness and confusion. Terror is intended, but it's mild since it's not conveyed as well as it could have been. I loved the ending. It was a bit confusing but if you're paying close enough attention and processing it then I think you'll appreciate it to. Is it brilliant? No, but it's satisfactory.

Three chaperones are hired to supervise an advanced learning program for gifted children, who wear Augmented Reality Glasses to assist in their education. Contained within a secure, underground facility, events quickly spiral out of control.

The film has received mixed or negative reviews, and I can absolutely see why. Even though the virtual reality parts look okay, the general appearance of the film is cheap. And much of the acting is awful (especially the really bad talking head in the opening). The concept is timely (something we might see on "Black Mirror"), but the film may be limited by its own budget.

Worth a look? Sure. But not nearly as good as the sort of new releases we have come to expect from IFC Midnight. (Then again, you can't have a winner every time, can you?)

Jenny (Elizabeth Morris) is struggling with money and caring for her bedridden mother. She gets hired along with Tiggs (Kara Tointon) and Darby (Elliot James Langridge) as chaperons in an underground facility. She is surprised to learn the subjects are little children being trained in a learning program with augmented reality. Everybody has to wear special glasses to see. There is the AI named Arial (Jamie Bernadette) to assist the newcomers. There are no other adults around. The kids communicate through the virtual reality and remains silent except for Cassandra (Isabelle Allen) who befriends Jenny.

The movie is mostly filmed in the first person POV through those augmented reality glasses. As long as there are two or more people in the scene, it can switch back and forth almost like a regular movie. It's not until Jenny is alone that the movie is forced to be a solo camera affair. The camera restrictions and the glasses on everybody do distant the audience from the acting. I don't think the acting is bad but it is constrained. On the other hand, there is an opening rant that screams cheesy B-movie. The over-the-top acting there needs to be cut.

One of the problem is that these are kids with no real superpowers. Nobody picks up a weapon, or even a stick. It's obvious the augmented reality could be compromised by the kids from the beginning. This is literally a horror that could be solved by a simple flashlight. It would be more compelling to have the augmented reality forced on them like an injected microchip. I kept thinking they should take off those glasses and light up the situation through another means. There is also a twist that is obvious from the start. It's completely expected and I simply waited for it to happen. The only positive is that the augmented reality looks fine especially if you compare it to the spartan bunker setting.

This film has the best trailer I've seen in years, a good combination of lights, colors and funky music. Then as a British Horror enthusiast I was thrilled to see it was a British movie.

The praise stops there.

Three actors a mixture of talent, two good females one awful male actor, a warren of tunnels that are probably the same and the worst American accents ever. Everything was American, it was like it was pretending not to be a British movie, but it was.

The story is very "damned" similar, but that's also where that ends.

Unfortunately the story was just too awful, 45 minutes in I just couldn't go on, it was truly unbearable, boring and utterly tiresome. You could have slept through portions and not missed a thing.

So sad it was so bad, it could have been so good.