Paradise

I really wasn't expecting something quite as good based on the putrid 6.3/10 rating on IMDb. The production, acting, premise, are all really good. The sci-fi story is very interesting though pretty linear and mostly predictable. With that said I was fully captivated throughout the entire movie and I'm one that gets antsy easily. I haven't seen any of the actors before but they all played their parts very well and were fully convincing in their parts. I would definitely watch a part 2 of this movie if one is made. The only reason I think this movie didn't get a higher review is the subtitles and the fact that it doesn't have a single A-list actor from Hollywood.

This movie had everything to be great. The premise was good, to say the least, the beginning was exciting, the performances committed and the course chosen pointed in the direction of something really prosperous.

In addition, the ethical issues raised by a group called Adam, which violently opposes the shady methods of manipulating the life span of the poor in exchange for money , run by the AEON company, are extremely valid and provide material for a realistic reflection on a possible future that lies ahead of our time. In fact, this discussion would have been the best thing in the movie if the script had gone down this road.

But halfway through the movie the script becomes a seesaw with so many ups and downs. The story loses its breath and becomes a little lame. It improves a little with the reappearance of the terrorist core Adam, adding some action to the lukewarm script, but it falls off again with poor script choices as the film nears its climax.

When personal moral dilemmas that don't quite fit appear out of nowhere, things turn lukewarm again and the movie goes downhill again. And so it goes until the end. It's not bad and keeps the interest, but good wasted characters and an undefined script about where it wants to go, partially spoil what could have been great. In the end, it leaves a slight hook for a possible continuation.

No pun intended - actually one might say puns. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! What is life or a movie if we skip stuff - if we are made to fast forward? Or go back? Time and age wise! There are a lot of questions the movie is asking - very obvious ones (should we sacrifice so called regular folk to enrich our culture with geniuess? Make them live longer?) ... but I would argue that it doesn't really answer them ... it does go off into different directions.

That all being said, this is an intriguing concept ... try not to get hung up on ... well technicalities (again sorry for the pun). This is meant to be ... well meant to be entertainment first, while also giving you food for thought. What would you do? And does every technology benefit the rich? Who can be deemed ... well unnecessary? Isn't every life worth something? Still if someone would want to give away ... there is a whole bag of issues there. One being that person may change their mind ... no backsies I assume.

I like that the filmmakers took a chance and went for it. With Kostja they have a very charismatic lead ... he walks a very line about what he wants, about being a fighter for justice ... and trying to handle what his significant other may want ... all the while playing god of sorts ... there are many twists and turns ... some make more some make less sense ... just suspend your disbelief ...

It's hard for me to understand how Netflix can allow complete amateurs write movie scripts.

They do it again and again. How can this be a sustainable business model? Put 15 million dollars in a movie based on a script that any 16 years old could have written better.

I mean look at this mess of a script. What is this? Apart from the premise, which is not completely new but interesting, it is just complete garbage. There are no character build ups, there is no interesting dramatic goal, there are not story steps, there isn't even a central conflict, it's just a huge chaos all over the place.

None of the characters come even close to touching us. The antagonist has one single encounter with the hero, where they both say one sentence, no conflict. We never learn what motivates her.

The hero saves a woman that doesn't wanna be saved. His wife. Well, it's said that she is his wife, but we never really come to believe it, as there is zero chemistry between them. They tell each other "I love" you three times in a car, but there is no feeling, it's worse than in a soap opera. Two sex scenes (hello Netflix) add nothing to the chemistry. The actress isn't very convincing, but it's not only her fault. Maybe the makers should have watched some love movies to learn how to establish a bond between a loving couple, especially as this is - or rather should have been - the central motivator of the hero, saving his wife's life.

That's his mission. Unfortunately, she doesn't rally wanna be saved and seems to have given in to her fate. Then she changes her mind and wants to be saved. Then she changes her mind again, because it would mean to harm an innocent person. Then she changes her mind again and almost kills the innocent girl, sleeps with her husband, and finally decides to betray her husband and take the lifetime of the girl, and also break up with the guy who sacrificed his life for her and get pregnant from another guy that appeared out of nowhere (is this the new "female empowerment"?). Frustrated, her now ex-husband joins the terrorist to kill some more people. Why? We never really learn.

It's so bizarre, that it's almost funny. The script actually reminded me of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 film The Room, widely considered the worst film ever made. In this film the actor changes his mind sometimes twice within a scene.

I wonder if the producers come to Netflix with a script so bad, or if the script is okay but Netflix ruins it with their developer team, because they want it to fit their algorithm or whatever.

It's depressing, because the premise would have offered so much potential. For example, only the rich can afford the costly life-time transfer process, and they take it from the poor. Was that too political for Netflix? Why was this huge potential theme never harvested in the movie? Isn't that what's happening right now on this planet, that only the rich can afford top medical care?

Well, but ignoring reality and promoting escapism seems to be the new thing on Netflix, so I guess the filmmakers ran into heavy resistance there. Sad.

Netflix used to be cool, now it's more and more turning into a drug to numb down the oppressed workforce.

I loved the issues brought up and how it used a Sci-fi concept to highlight them, and it had some lovely details; but I think it had a bit of a slow build up. Like I feel the pacing of the film would have made an excellent TV series.

I do feel like the concept and the things brought up were very interesting. I also felt there were a lot of side characters who seemed like they had a very interesting stories to tell that were barely touched on.

It was overall interesting, and enjoyable it just had more to give. And I think the film suffered a tiny bit because of that. It was clearly a very well thought out concept.