shoutingplatypus

Dystopia (2021)

Drama or horror?

Dystopia declares itself to be a thriller but the drama between characters take a first seat in this Swedish horror series produced for Viaplay.

Somewhere in the Swedish woods a small group of people have taken over an old steel mill for the summer to run a LARP (Live Action Role Play). Most of them are actors in the role play except one overly ambitious leader, who seem strangely disconnected from everyone else. While fiddling with the old mills power circuits they awaken something that has been hidden for may years and the scene is set.

Dystopia does a good job of slowly building tension over the first couple of episodes before it suddenly starts focusing on the sexual and personal drama between the group of actors. The seven actors kinda divides into two groups of banal highschool relationships with two girls in one group both wanting the same guys and the other group the somewhat main character is cheating on her boyfriend with both his best friend and a female colleague.

With that amount of sexual drama the horror disappears in the background all the way until we get to the last two episodes where it all didn't really matter anyway.

A lot of things work for the so far first season of the series. The acting is mostly above par, the setting at the old mill is great and scenic and lends itself well to horror. The cgi effects aren't too plentiful and the ones they put in are nicely done. There's a scientific foundation for all the shenanigans that although they're never really explained or maybe are just a bit too simplistic holds your interest enough to stay until the end and see where it all goes.

Still there's too many issues to elevate Dystopia to something great. The group are supposedly enthusiastic role players bit don't really seem care about the LARP at all. Well, except the boss who cares so much that it all becomes a bit ridiculous. There's a lot of descision making that doesn't really makes a lot of sense and in the end where it all crumbles and people are falling apart left and right their behavior comes off as out of place a lot of the time. All these things combined ruins the illusion that these are actual role players caught or actual people at all.

Watch Dystopia if you're hung over and have a day to spare like I did. It's good fun and entertaining most of the time. Just don't except a really good horror romp, that will leave you dissapointed.