It's a sad fact that a decent amount of reviews on this site are paid for. They're easily recognizable by bad English, limitation to five lines and exaggerated enthusiasm, but usually limited to big budget Disney releases and the like. For an Eastern European film, this is rather rare, so one might give the film the benefit of the doubt. But it's really not worth it. The script is a horrible mishmash of "Shawshank Redemption" (sepia-toned aerial shots, grave off-screen narration), "Cell 211" (prison hostage situation) and "Green Mile" (menacing giant with a big heart, albeit no superpowers). The whole set-up is cringe-worthy since the crisis evolves around a dove captured in a machine, with no explanation how it was supposed to get in there. The audience is expected to believe that prisoners would risk their lives for the sole purpose of rescuing a bird, with no option to escape. This is supposed to be symbolic as illustrated by a sappy soundtrack, but this is obviously an attempt by an ailing local industry to sway some international viewers to pay attention to their product and bag a marketable award nomination. The result is as pathetic as a Moskvich with Mercedes hubcaps. There are some good Bulgarian films, but those tell their own stories and don't try to come up with a festival hit formula.
Review of In the Heart of the Machine
