A rather dull approach to an interesting subject.
Unfortunately, neither of the characters emerge as multi-faceted human beings, they simply pop out of the script like two-dimensional caricatures, and while the cast does its best to bring these personae to life, their hard work can only go so far in carrying a piece that doesn't hold its ground.
With a few plot twists, the movie tries to gain our attention, but they appear predictable by the time we've finished watching the film.
Despite introducing us to a formidable antagonist, the CEO of the evil AEON corporation, who's capable of eliminating innocent lives for her own profits and interest, we don't get to know much about her either, and the whole characterisation falls flat. Neither does her character design present her as a grey shadowed presence, nor does it do much to make the viewer hate her.
Even the opposing fraction ADAM fighting against AEON is led by a woman with firm beliefs, but that side of the story doesn't contribute anything except bodies dropping left and right. It ultimately leaves us with a question - what really was the point of it all, if neither the negative forces leading the controversial ageist agenda had anything to speak for themselves, nor the resistance party trying to reinstate the status quo.
Although classism and ageism are the obvious themes being dealt by the movie, the social commentary in that arena also feels very thin, resulting in merely a crumbling down of the whole idea that could've created a larger than life image, but never does.
Personally, I was looking forward to this release owing to my own cravings of a good science fiction thriller, but again that ship has sailed without leaving me with much to remember in the end.
Unfortunately, Boris Kunz's feature has only resulted in a run-of-the-mill forgettable viewing experience. As much as I wanted to like this one, it didn't really hand out a significantly building up narrative, nor did it lay out worthy character developments. Its sole dark vision of a society falling apart with a classist billion-dollar company set up at the centre only brings out the obvious view of a dystopian setting, but nothing more than that.
Initially, the German film pushes a great deal to cement its foregrounding issues about the socio-economic divide between different classes of society, ageism, relationships, technological advancements overtaking emotional human ground and more.
But in the end, it reels out a dystopian concept merely on the surface, as a selling point. It lacks profundity and fails to ask the right questions.
