Written by Marc O. Seng of the TV show Dark, comes a German movie about individuals with powers. These individuals are suppressed by the government via a psychiatrist prescribing little blue pills. These pills turn the individuals into meek and dull zombies of themselves. When a chance meeting with a homeless man occurs with our main character, a woman in her thirties with a husband and young son, she is thrust into a world of possibilities. At the man’s behest and insinuation of super powers, she decides to stop taking the pills. And as it turns out, she learns the truth, she does have powers.
Similarly, one of her co-workers, a young man with seemingly autism or of being on the spectrum, is also taking the same pills. He’s motherless and his father is shacking up with another woman who he mockingly calls “mom”. His fate is intertwined with our main character, and of that of the homeless man. Together they go on a journey of self discovery and uncover a far reaching conspiracy.
As the viewer, we are meant to sympathize with the main character due to her job as a waitress with a mean boss lady that doesn’t treat her well. Her customers don’t give her any respect either, and her husband can be said to be a bit of a boor. She comes off as lacking intellect, and the case could be made that she’s bipolar. In fact, the entire movie, if you take out the powers aspect, could be said as a metaphor for bipolar/schizophrenia. The movie even has a line saying that the pills suppress their true selves, who they really are.
The change in both the young man and our main character is almost immediate. They go from being dull and meek, to being manic and aggressive. Yet she follows the path of a typical hero while he follows the path of a misunderstood villain. His mom wasn’t there to raise him properly while his dad constantly berates him for who he is. So when he gets powers and realizes his own self worth, it doesn’t take a blind man to see the path he’d take.
The movie doesn’t offer anything new on the superhero genre, nor does it reinvent anything. The message it sends is dangerous to those that are bipolar and/or schizophrenic because having known such individuals, the medication they take is necessary for a normal life. To stop their medication would be catastrophic.
The only good that comes from this movie is the soundtrack. The electronic music and classics such as Listen to your heart provide a nice reprieve from what’s shown on screen. The special effects are often done off screen and then we get to bear witness to the results. There are a few instances where CGI is seen, and for a low budget movie, it’s pretty decent.
Overall, I don’t recommend this movie. It goes to show that as a writer, one can write a masterpiece only to turn around and write utter schlock. This movie should be avoided. Don’t give Netflix the data that lets them think these kinds of movies are okay to be made.
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