2073

The atmosphere this "movie" sets up is brilliant. The downtrodden, harrowing, depressing, soul crushing vision of the future. Had it told that story in the fictional 2073 world and simply tied it to the real life events, it would have worked fine just fine.

But then it drops back into early 2000's and starts weaving real life footage of events from all over the world into its tread... and loses what was built at the start.

It becomes a documentary that's trying to present itself like in a feature film form but it ends up being neither. There isn't just one message here, there are countless, each touching on everything you'd see on some conspiracy theory You Tube video or obscure website visited by people with questionable mental faculty. Reemergence of the far left in mainstream politics, corrupt interconnected politicians, systematic disassembly of democracy, abuse of power, abuse of social media, racism, environment, and so on and so forth.

Don't get me wrong, all of the topics it touches are worthy of your attention and should be addressed, sooner rather than later. But the moment you tangle real life events with fictional narrative... the relevance of the message becomes fictional itself.

This documovie offers causes to issues, exacerbates them as a stepping stone into the fictional environment and the offers nothing in the form of a solution, just a melancholic voice over from the main character that deliberately tip toes around what it really wants to say.

Shame. Because if this had been a fictional movie or a proper documentary... I think I would have loved it.

I almost skipped out on this movie after taking a glance at the lackluster reviews. But then I noticed a pattern: It really felt like a lot of the reviewers didn't even give the movie a chance before tuning out.

Samantha Morton truly shines in this film - she does a great job at conveying a staggering amount of emotion with her facial expressions alone. (Her character is mute.) The story is mainly told from her POV through narration that is both nostalgic and pensively depressing.

The movie paints a prescient and chilling vision of what our future could look like in the next ~50 years, given our current trajectory. Blending real-life archival footage and stark depictions of an authoritarian future, it offers a sobering reminder of how fragile our freedoms can be.

While the movie doesn't provide much hope or a clear way to fight back against 'the machine,' I felt this was intentional. The bleakness perfectly reflects the circumstances of the characters, leaving you with a haunting sense of inevitability.

It's not a light or hopeful film, but it's one that left an impression which will stick with me for a long time.

This is not a film. This is not a documentary. This is a warning.

This is a quote from 2024's 2073, a dystopian docudrama that brilliantly uses news and television clips to weave a science fiction story we are already living. Imagine Facebook doom scrolling for one hour and twenty-four minutes and you have the emotional impact of this prescient movie. Unfortunately, I believe the title is as optimistic as the movie is bleak. 2028 would have been more appropriate, as we hurl toward Democracy's demise faster than the director, Asif Kapadia, could imagine.

2073 premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in the category "Out of Competition," which could not be more appropriate for Kapadia's dynamic, passionate, admirable and beautifully rendered imagining of our near future. At its heart, 2073 immerses us into a Meta-verse where humanity teeters between incredible technological advancements and deep ethical dilemmas.

Staring the frighteningly beautiful Samantha Jane Morton (Alpha from The Walking Dead), 2073 sets us in a vast metropolis that is both breathtaking and bleak, showcasing a stunning yet haunting city filled with vivid colors and dark shadows, the film maker using lighting to evoke emotions, and creating the documentary feel of this art piece. With skyscrapers towering into the clouds and streets pulsating with technological energy, each frame is meticulously designed and its this attention to detail that establishes a captivating visual language, beautifully complimenting the nearly extinct plot.

Morton is a brilliant actress, and riveting on screen, but there's only so much heavy lifting she can do in a film so obviously motivated to sway audiences to one side of the political debate. In today's polarized politics, this feels manipulative even while I silently scream "Yes, yes, yes!" It's as if the director is inside my head, capturing my dismay at today's state of affairs and my fear of what's to come.

This is a solid film. Very watchable. And at times, extraordinary in it's achievement of blurring fact and fiction. But at its core, its as shallow as the news anchors it highlights, reading from teleprompters with dead eyes and an emptiness that makes us feel as if we are reliving the news like a memory versus witnessing it in real time.

I encourage you to watch it. And I know it will change nothing.

God Bless the Americas.

The documentary parts and the fictional parts did not really link together well. Perhaps if the short running time had been extended a more involving narrative to connect the two could have been presented.

But it was well edited, with news footage included that is often censored from the mainstream media, making an uncomfortable watch for some. Whatever message you get is likely distorted by your own left/right biases, though its likely that those with right wing views will opt out after a few minutes, after all, there is much to think about here.

On the very day I watched this, the news was filled with out of control wildfires in California, mark Zuckerberg joining Elon Musk on his ' free unmoderated speech' crusade, The Trump proclaiming how he might invade Greenland, Canada, and Panama?

A few years back, crises would arise, take up all of the news, fade away, then everything back to normal. Its possible we might never see normal again?

Most dystopian tales are about a place that could never exist. They exist in the stories and draw parallels to our time or serve as metaphors for our struggles. This movie is not a documentary, but it uses documentary to explain how the future will be created by what is happening now and by what's happened in the last 2, 5, 20, and 30 years.

It doesn't offer hope or answers. Answers aren't that easy. Hope may be a fantasy. What if this is all happening and there's nothing we can do about it? Is it too late already? "If we do not act when we can will we fall off the cliff?"

Will voting change anything? Will not voting change anything? Will continuing to consume and benefit from technological comforts yield any different result than going back to a simpler life that is unconnected to information collection?

These are not equations answered in this movie. But they're questions I have because of it.

I'm sure there many people who think this film is leftist propaganda. These same people don't see how bad things are in this country and the world. They're ok with making American great again. I'm not sure we are ever going to be ok again, neither is this film.

This is not for everyone.