Cycle

I cannot claim to have understood the story, but for me the graphics made it all worthwhile. A somewhat disorientating experience, but not in a bad way.

Imagine a few people doing a sort of radio play and then putting on some generic low quality 3D animation where some characters need to have a mask because there is no budget for different and moving human faces. Nothing is explained or makes any sense, everything is chaotic and dreamlike. Maybe there is some smart idea coming out of this mess later in the film, but I couldn't watch more than 15 minutes before I decided I can't continue.

I've never seen such a horrible movie in all my quite-respectably-long life. There wasn't a single word of dialog worth hearing, not a single camera angle worth viewing, not a single beam of proper lighting, in this whole nightmare - not a nightmare in the usual frightening sense, but in the imprisoned-with-an-under-achieving-insurance-agent for all eternity sense. I can't say it any better than that, nor do I have any further words to add, IMDB. I've lost respect for your site because you've allowed a rating of 4+ to stand. The sole viewer who gave this piece of offal a 10 I leave to your own tormentuous and apparently completely-tasteless life. Enjoy!

I saw this movie at the Sci-Fi London festival. I went with a friend and we had no idea about what we're going to see. We went to see a Hungarian 'arthouse' sci-fi but ended up seeing the most strange and unlikely movie we've ever been to. It was advertised as a computer generated movie but for a couple minutes I thought the shots were actually live action. The hand-held camera simulation certainly adds to the illusion. There are of course a couple of shots where that illusion of reality disappears but for about half an hour you really have to wonder if the movie is "real" or computer generated. It certainly adds to the theme which develops around the concept of a multi-level or multi-verse virtual reality. It is not like like 'Matrix' however. The story revolves around an astronaut trying to find his way out of a messy virtual reality game but there is no way I can describe the story properly because the structure of the storytelling is truly weird. I can only compare it to films like 'Pulp Fiction' or 'Primer' but I can also tell you that it's a lot more complicated than anything that comes to my mind. For me was really hard puzzle to solve. And it is not just a puzzle where you can put the parts together and come up with the one and only solution because the movie has an open ending. This I think makes it only suitable for those who can live without a big moment or a final resolution. But if you're really into finding solutions for nearly unsolvable problems then this movie is for you. I guess knowing a bit about the Church-Turing thesis also helps understanding what's going on. I liked the zen-like soundscapes and the Commodore 64 generated music which reminded me of the '80s. The movie also also operates with references to a number of famous science fiction movies so if you're a film fan I'm sure you'll like this one.

I can't help but wonder about the dark, political references the director might be making to the situation in his homeland in this disturbing tale, which is a cross between Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece and the epic doom and gloom of Hungarian director Bela Tarr. Although the effects aren't as high tech as other high budget sci-fi flicks, they are definitely visually rich, surreal at times, and very effective in telling the story. The only question is what is the real story? The film's title clearly alludes to the seemingly endless circular narrative that offers no escape for the protagonist Jack, as a dark 'fog' – a metaphor for all those uncontrollable forces in our lives – comes creeping closer and closer by the minute. Thankfully, Jack has the courage to venture off the beaten path into some potentially dangerous territory (beautiful and bizarre computer generated spaces) rather than give in, in hopes that he might be able to break the cycle. Despite the somewhat unconventional narrative structure, which actually helps move the story along, Cycle is mesmerising both visually and aurally and has enough stamina to draw you into Jack's world as he tries desperately to escape his nightmarish situation with very little help from the base station or those strange masked men who keep on popping up throughout the course of the film. Suitable for those who like their sci-fi dark and gritty.