Restore Point

I don't remember how this title came to my attention, but I'm glad I watched it.

The premise is nothing new, but the story is carried by decent performances by the (to me) unknown actors, sprinked with noteworthy acting by some of the supporting characters (Iveta Duskova and Jan Vlasak did an especially fine job).

Special effects looked good enough on my small screen. Some cyberpunk scenes are worth remembering - the mute thug with the 7-segment LED dentures is one of them.

Dialogue is average but again there are some noteworthy moments (the contrast between cellular memory and actual memory, for instance, or how Kurlstat discovered that he had gifted himself the memory of how to play piano after having his head slammed on a keyboard).

None of the characters pushed the plot along by doing stupid things, which is always a nice touch.

(IMDB doesn't allow me to use proper accents in the actors' names. Sorry about that.)

'Restore Point (2023)' is a Czech sci-fi film about a conspiracy surrounding the planned privatization of a technology that allows people to back-up their brains and be brought back from the dead if they're killed via unnatural means (such as murder). Focusing on a detective with a personal vendetta against the terrorist group she's hunting, the flick presents itself as a slow-burning investigative thriller with occasional bursts of action and a couple of neat twists and turns. Its handsome, clean, probing aesthetic is clearly inspired by the likes of 'Blade Runner 2049 (2017)', albeit with less neon and lashings of rain, and its narrative also takes inspiration from that meditative legacy sequel. Thanks to its conceptually interesting and convincingly conveyed technology and architecture, its version of the future is not only compelling but also surprisingly honest. It's feasible that we're heading in the direction it portrays, with its most potent aspects being extensions of what we're already seeing rather than unattainable fantasies of space battles and laser swords (which are also cool, don't get me wrong). The central idea is intriguing to probe, more from a moral standpoint than a technological one, and it leads to some genuinely exciting questions that hint towards what we've always wondered without feeling as though they succumb to cliché. Although it may be a tiny bit forgettable overall, at least in terms of its specific plot and the relatively low-key way in which it unravels, and its ending is a tiny bit underwhelming (especially considering how engaging the various enigmas leading up to it are), but this is ultimately a confident and absorbing detective thriller that's set in a tangible world, poses some potent questions (without necessarily answering them all), and features a few suspenseful sequences that keep you on the edge of your seat by playing with the picture's established rules in an enjoyable way. It's a really entertaining effort, and it's especially impressive for a directorial debut.

It's really hard to review this movie objectively beying Czech, it doesn't look really comparable to Hollywood movies with massive budgets (and you have to know that before you visit cinema, don't expect Blade Runner with massive long shots to cyberpunk cities), but it's welcomed change here in our country, you have to consider how cheap this movie was (less then 2 milion eur).

Also you have to consider what kind of movies we normaly do, this is our first sci-fi after like 60 years! And after 2022 Jan Zizka (Medieval in English) this is the second try to do something more worldwide looking after many years, our film makers normaly don't even try, they make just TV movies targeted to a Czech viewer or fairytales or stupid comedy movies which are really low quality (which is sad, because our old comedy movies are really good), but Medieval had 10 times higher budget and looks worse than this super cheap movie.

Movie is just detective story from cyberpunk future, nothing too complicated, there are some nice ideas and moral dilemats, creators say that they worked on that for 9 years, so people who say it's stealing from Altered Carbon should consider that it's just a coincidence, the same asi similarities to Cyberpunk 2077.

Movie takes place somewhere in "central Europe" and names and places are selected on purpose that you don't exactly know where it is, some names are Czech, some Polish, some sounds German and city is mix of Prague, Warsaw and few other cities, but due to low budget, the vast majority of shots is very short and places where something is really doing on are small, similar to TV movies or theater, which is logical with that budget, part of movie takes place in comunity of people who deny technology, which is a logical way to save money, but I noticed that a lot of people hate the movie for not beying enough sci-fi and Cyberpunk, they have to know the budget! It's a miracle what they did with that money and it's just a start, if it earns money, they have big plans with this universe, so please support this movie made by new young creators with mostly new actors and actresses and you will get more in the future.

No pun intended - you could make the case of police not waiting for others to arrive! This is not the first movie to have the main character being way too anxious (not always with apparent reasons - the first incident ... it makes sense she wants to go in, not wanting to wait ... second one? Well I reckon in the end it makes sense, but she can't know that - also .. "baggage").

All that aside, the movie has quite a few things it does bring across. Having the chance to do things over, is not always the best thing for humans. It may feel like a security blanket ... but we know how this works. There are things, that I am not sure how they ... actually make sense and happen (I reckon technology is involved), but in the end, how much do we remember? How much is true? If we don't remember, did it happen? And are we a different being all of a sudden? A lot of existential question and .. angst as you could say ...

In the near future, the dead can tell a story, technology allows a hack, the restore point. A Detective uses such technology to track down a killer, the front of the so called 'Rivers of Life.'

I can count on one hand how many Czech made films I've seen, and if this is anything to go by, I need to investigate.

This is a quality, imaginative and well paced, low budget film. So it's not Hollywood, these days I'd argue that's a good thing, it's not desperate to play politics, nor is it desperate to blitz the viewer with a myriad of special effects, it's just an interesting story.

It's like a Scandi, sci fi mystery, overall I'd say it works rather well, they effectively create a futuristic world, albeit some unknown Eastern European country.

If you like sci fi and mysteries, then this film is for you, the futuristic gobbledegook is creative enough, some looks good, some doesn't. The locations are clever, and all looks suitably futuristic.

Always interesting to think about life beyond, it's one thing we have no answers for, this tries to offer a glimpse, it's a clever idea.

8/10.