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.
