The Mill

There is nothing really original in the background or overall structure of THE MILL. We've seen the setup before, many times. But hey, the story is boss and, equally, so is the telling of the story.

This is a great little story, and it's well told.

The lead character is annoying, but as things go on you begin to suspect his irritating abrasiveness hides a plot purpose. In fact you begin to suspect lots of things.

And that's good mystery. That's GOOD writing!

We are in the middle of a writing desert, which nobody seems to have an explanation for. We are drowning in boring-recycled-style over any kind of substance.

This makes things like THE MILL a pleasant relief.

If you like the original BLACK MIRROR (when it was good and Charlie Brooker was on fire with his creative control), you'll recognise and like THE MILL. I'm sure of it.

If I could criticise it, it's too long and the ending is too drawn out, but I can't go into details without spoiling it. Nothing wrecks the story.

A solid 7 in my book.

If you have felt like your work is monotonous and pointless. Or your getting nowhere in your career or life. And thought of just downing tools. Ever realised you could make things better at work if the workforce all pulled together....or felt like the management dont listen or see you as a number, there to do their bidding.....youll get this movie.

All the bad reviews on here i think are from people expecting something akin to the Saw series or similar one location horror/thrillers......this isnt that, if you watch and put it in the context of your own dissatisfied work life youll see how smart and poignant this movie is.

Well acted by Lil Rel Howery, the end could have been better but i felt like this movie spoke to me and how i feel about my boring, unfulfilling job.

Happy Huluween, Streamers! Yes, Hulu is back with their Horror/Halloween section of movies for the Halloween Season. One of their offerings piqued my interest based on the main actor and the simple concept, The Mill. This streaming movie features a businessman (Lil Rel Howery) who mysteriously wakes up in an open-air prison cell with only a primitive grinding mill. He's forced to work until he can find a way back before the birth of his first child. Covid type movie hijinks ensue.

As you can tell, this movie really is quite singular and feels like a classic Covid era movie. All we have is Lil Rel and some voice work to get us through about an hour and forty minutes. I like Rel but this isn't really his acting range. Don't get me wrong he does a good job, and the movie really wouldn't have been anything without him. He knows how to act panicked but sometimes it just comes off as whiny! Anyway, the idea is original and semi-frightening. Remind me not to sign any disclosures without reading them again. But really there's not much to the movie other than Rel and they still make us watch for an hour and 40 minutes! I mean have a build-up but come on already.

Simply put, this movie while imaginative lacks imagination. The Mill is literally, and metaphorically, pushed along by the charisma of Lil Rel Howery. That's not enough to make this a movie you have to run to see. Grab a handful of popcorn and check out The Mill to support our guy when you have a chance.

A wildly misguided and not at all subtle critique of capitalism, or "the grind" (like a mill. See not very subtle). Is anyone really stupid enough to believe this showing is even remotely related to actual capitalism? A trillion-dollar company, calling literal slaves their "employees", can do anything they want because the employee "didn't read the fine print" when signing their introduction paperwork. This director is one of those people who think modern day employees are slaves because they have to work for money instead of being handed everything for free. That even though the employees willing volunteered to work for the company and can leave at any time, the company is evil for making the person work. These kind people think of themselves as actual slaves, like the man in this movie, and there's nothing they can do to escape. That companies who make their employees work are literal slave masters forcing people to work so they aren't killed. Nevermind how incredibly obvious the metaphor, it's also just extremely inaccurate. However, I gave it 2 stars instead of just 1 because there is something to said about quotas and how there are definitely companies that do not reward employees that work hard and therefore give no incentive to continue working hard. That is a legitimate critique. Also, the ending was absolutely terrible. All that aside, Lil Rey cannot carry a movie by himself. He is comedic relief and that is where he shines. Also, what business manager working for a trillion-dollar company wears Nikes with their suit? I'm just not impressed at all.

Had no idea what this movie was when I fired it up, and thought it was just going to be a straight up saw or cube genre horror flick. Its not far off from that, but its different. For those that have experienced being middle management at large growth corporations (in my case hi-tech) and have been subjected to their tactics, with management trees, illusion of choice, moving targets, unobtainable goals, and performance plans/metrics, (they left out ESG, DEI, volunteering, and encouraged donations) will relate to what this movie is relaying through its bleak surface level metaphor. Others will say, just leave or work somewhere else but also dont understand the golden handcuff stuff that makes it lucrative to continue to give them the best years of your lives in spite of the long hours and sleepless frustration. Either way, I thought it was simply demonstrated in an entertaining way with bleak atmosphere and a good caricature lead to transfer the emotion and frustration. Now, back to work.