Turn Me On

This movie gives Logan's Run vibes, mashed up with the book Brave New World, and then introduced to Black Mirror. I also feel a resemblance to the TV series Severance.

Acting, sets, costumes, concept, and plot are all great. I like the characters and their development. Well executed. I'll be watching this again on my own another time.

If you enjoy a Thought Experiment, this one's for you. It is Dystopian and has a hard to place historical time line. It feels like it might be a commentary on Capitalism as well as a social critique on drug usage to numb difficult Growing Pains and Adult Emotional Growth.

In low-budget, self-satisfied Dystopian drama "Turn Me On" Bel Powley & Nick Robinson (both rising stars btw) are paired in an experimental society where past-life memories & meaningful emotion are suppressed by a daily drug, resulting in a permanent 'pleasant contentedness' that's drama-free yet as blandly drab as the society's deadly dull surroundings - but then Powley stops taking the drug... Its theme isn't original, but unlike the likes of "Logan's Run" or "The Island" it sinks into the very bleak blandness it's intending to decry. Writer Angela Bourassa & director Michael Tyburski screwed the pooch on this borefest. "Turn Me On" it did not. A turd. Flush it.

Yes it's low budget, yes an old theme like everybody drugged up. It's sort of a remake of Brave New World. Clearly designed for an American audience so no goof about pronunciation (vitamin, elevator, faucet etc.) but not that bad. And worth a watch. It's an interesting take on an old idea. It can seem slow but that's the point when you are taking the vitamin your "off".

A good twist at the end, stay with it, it has a very good ending if predictable. Enjoy the 90 odd minutes it long enough to tell the story but unlike a lot of modern two hour plus films does not have any scenes that seem to be there just to pad out the story.

Grant it's not original ( I can think of several similar forebears going back to the 70's , at least ) . As a starting point , anything with Bel Powley as a member of the cast , it has my immediate interest . Those eyes are mesmerising and she uses them to good effect here . Loved the Pythonesque scene cuts when the couple " discover each other " ( with the hilarious classical music for added effect ) . As another reviewer has correctly pointed out , this needs investment to get past the bland , one dimensional opening acts , but it's worth it . Think of TV's Severance , but without the steroids .

I thought it was okayish at first, but then when I started writing this review, I considered few additional things and I must say it actually exceeds what I initially thought about it.

It has a mystery, it explores important social topics, it makes assumptions about human future and our possibilities.

Everyone probably imagined at least once how they could leave their life behind and just emerge in another place.

But why would people want to always feel content?! Honestly, even uneducated or silly people know that life is a rollercoaster and you can't really experience joy without knowing what sadness is.

I think nature in its most basic wisdom will prevent humanity from going down this portrayed way, instead of getting rid of these things we all should just learn to handle them better.

Many people nowadays abuse anxiety drugs, tranquilizers - they basically give this same effect - make people content, but I really don't think it's good for you unless it's a targeted medical attack on a psychological problem person has.

Initially I was disappointed in the ending, I thought it was abrupt and lazy. But then I thought about what was said earlier in the movie and what actually happened.

This is a spoiler-free review, so I will not give away the details, but I think now that this ending is quite much smarter, that I expected.