Let's Be Evil

"The past can define our future. But I won't let it."

The opening scene of this sci-fi horror was promising. Even better, it was a snapshot that instantly caught my attention. A sublime and fascinating scene after which I snuggled in my cozy chair in anticipation for something magnificent. I was immediately convinced that this was going to be a hell of a movie. What did you expect? With a score like that on IMDb, this couldn't go wrong. The frozen image of a puzzled looking girl smeared with blood, seamlessly merged with a TV-show where we get the melancholic picture of a generation with no future. The education system needs to be changed so a new generation of intelligent young kids is being produced instead of a generation of obese and hopeless youngsters . The images looked futuristic with a suitable graphic design. And then the flashy google glass lookalike is introduced. A gadget we'll be watching through the rest of the film.

Just recently I've seen "Jeruzalem" where they used the same kind of glasses. A disappointing film though. The only feat I was excited about was that high-tech device. Unfortunately this facet of "Let's be evil" became a rather annoying element to me. Even worse. I got so sick of it that I wanted to give up already halfway the movie. The rickety soundtrack was perhaps an omen. Admit it. If you want to create a futuristic movie, you shouldn't be using those stale Jean Michelle-Jarre polyphonic sounds. It felt as if I was watching a third-rate SF from the 80s. Unfortunately these weren't the only disturbing elements. When the end credits rolled over the screen I made my final conclusion. This was probably the worst thing I've seen this year.

First, the overall picture you get to see almost the whole movie. The fact that it all happens in a virtual environment (the three selected candidates can only see by making use of the spectacles) was at first an exciting and interesting display. It all looked great and well-known (especially for those who sometimes sit behind a screen to have fun with some PC games), but it has one major drawback. After half an hour of hazy and swirling images, you gradually start to hate it. Biggest advantage is that a not so talented cameraman with virtually no experience gets away with it when some blurry and out of focus fragments appear in between. Combine this with a dark underground bunker where the lighting consists of pulsating lights in all sorts of colors and your irritation level is reached very quickly. It looked as if the whole story was set in a concrete submarine.

And then you have the actors who were recruited based on some unknown requirements and who are participating in the Posterity Project. Judging from the conversations they have, the requirements concerning the level of intelligence needed for this job wasn't very high. Their ultimate function is to observe the group of teenagers that are also present in this underground facility (spending their days waving their hands in the air). And when necessary they accompany a lost teenager back to the group. Not exactly intriguing and exciting. The fact that the group of children organize a sort of artificial uprising afterwards in which they manipulate the electronic system in an incomprehensible way, was the start of a confusing outcome and a ridiculous denouement.

Finally, the part that frustrated me the most. I had no idea what the theme of this movie was about. And in the end, I still didn't know it. Perhaps it's me getting older and a mild version of dementia sneaked in my system, but I couldn't make head nor tail of it. What was the opening sequence about and how did this correlate with the rest of the movie? And the end didn't clarify anything either. In a subtle way they tried to demonstrate the dangers of technologies and the way it's intertwined in our everyday lives. Kind of obvious. But eventually I still had a few questions about the film. Occasionally I like to watch a sophisticated film with a not so simple story line. But this was a level too high for me apparently. I suggest however that the creators of the IMDb website check their algorithms, because the score given to "Let's be Evil" is totally irrational. Or was there an artificial intervention by the makers of this movie? Well, that's a spooky thought!

More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

This film has the best trailer I've seen in years, a good combination of lights, colors and funky music. Then as a British Horror enthusiast I was thrilled to see it was a British movie.

The praise stops there.

Three actors a mixture of talent, two good females one awful male actor, a warren of tunnels that are probably the same and the worst American accents ever. Everything was American, it was like it was pretending not to be a British movie, but it was.

The story is very "damned" similar, but that's also where that ends.

Unfortunately the story was just too awful, 45 minutes in I just couldn't go on, it was truly unbearable, boring and utterly tiresome. You could have slept through portions and not missed a thing.

So sad it was so bad, it could have been so good.

IMDb must find a way to quell these deliberately manipulated movie ratings. Find out how the rating system is being exploited and put an end to it before users lose all confidence in it. Those who cheat the system should know there's backlash, for every false 10...their film will receive numerous 1's, and neither fairly assesses the movie being reviewed.

Is this an 8 star or higher film? In my eyes, no. A few may believe so, but I believe the vast majority of honest opinions would place it between 4-6. The premise is intriguing and executed moderately. The acting is mediocre. Mostly though, we aren't observing performances, but observing scenes and listening to the accompanying dialogue instead. Thus the editing, CGI and set are of primary importance and I believe the filmmakers did a decent job of it, earning a solid B-.

It's primarily seen through the eyes of our protagonist. She's one of three young adults (in financial straights) who accepts a mysterious assignment to supervise a group of highly gifted children in a top secret advanced learning program. She enters an underground facility which is completely pitch and is given a set of glasses which operates much like Google Glass, only then is she able to see her surroundings and receive any information. This alone kept me questioning what was truly real throughout the film since technology of this nature can control ones perception of reality. It can be programmed and designed to manipulate a person so I was never certain who or what was really happening. The feeling was much like watching films like Black Swan, Vanilla Sky or Inception in that it is somewhat disorientating and one cannot be certain about what's experienced. To be clear, this film is absolutely nothing like the 3 films I've mentioned and it cannot compare; the air of disorientation and uncertainty is all that is in common. At its' core, this is the best thing about the film.

Our protagonist soon realizes that the children are far from average. They are mentally and intellectually far more advanced than most adults who may be considered genius and these prodigy's only pause from their studies to eat a highly regulated diet and sleep a precise amount of time. She alone feels pity for them, voicing it by saying that children should be allowed time to be children, to have recess and play. Her opinion proves to be a critical point to the plot.

I think that more tantalizing visuals and dialogue would have done absolute wonders for the production value of this film. The set was too claustrophobic and lacked ambiance. It reminded me a bit of the lower levels seen on the set of Ex Machina, except a bit more like (as one reviewer stated) "a concrete submarine" meets inner city raver nightclub. Some imagination, space, and attention to detail would have gone a long way since the set was such a critical part of the production. There's no background on the female protagonist nor her co-protagonists which leaves the audience with no concern about their plight. They are nondescript and we learn nothing about them, it didn't even benefit the story to have the co's present. A backstory and some amount of character development was critically missing.

There were some tense moments, more of them would have made the film somewhat thrilling but the run time is fairly short and there's not much in the way of building suspense. One freak-out occurrence and our protagonist is already exiting the facility. She's compelled to stay however, then there's only the second occurrence which is our climax. Throughout the climax you are on a POV trip through darkness and confusion. Terror is intended, but it's mild since it's not conveyed as well as it could have been. I loved the ending. It was a bit confusing but if you're paying close enough attention and processing it then I think you'll appreciate it to. Is it brilliant? No, but it's satisfactory.

Three chaperones are hired to supervise an advanced learning program for gifted children, who wear Augmented Reality Glasses to assist in their education. Contained within a secure, underground facility, events quickly spiral out of control.

The film has received mixed or negative reviews, and I can absolutely see why. Even though the virtual reality parts look okay, the general appearance of the film is cheap. And much of the acting is awful (especially the really bad talking head in the opening). The concept is timely (something we might see on "Black Mirror"), but the film may be limited by its own budget.

Worth a look? Sure. But not nearly as good as the sort of new releases we have come to expect from IFC Midnight. (Then again, you can't have a winner every time, can you?)

The only way anyone didn't end this mind numbing mess before it was over was if they passed out from boredom, then awoke when it was over because it was that baaaaaaaaaaad.