User Reviews (14)

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  • dave-7042111 January 2017
    Well more an OK film and a 5 from me.

    The best part of this film for me was the script and overall story. As the script and story itself was very good, certainly deserving of a far bigger budget and better design and location shooting.

    I'm not going to analyze the film scene by scene as clearly there is script padding. But it's a reasonable and thought provoking realistic vision on how some may well eventually envisage the future of mankind in a way in the future when population numbers may well start to outstrip resources to feed it. Conspiracy theorists will say this will happen in the future to try and control the population.

    Acting was OK, certainly a miss match of acting abilities between some of the actors (maybe reasons for that as seemed a rushed production at times). Sadly production values, well more the budget was seriously lacking with this film. And what could have been more a 7 out of 10 for me is sadly a more realistic 5.
  • The concept behind the movie is one that's been done many times. It's easy to make it interesting and exciting. And yet this movie still failed. The characters and setting is flat and underdeveloped. And the ending is just... bad.

    The biggest problem is the first hour or so is just bland and boring. We get a brief introduction to the main character and one person he cares about for a couple minutes and then it skips ahead six years and we're left to figure out what happened on our own through clues. Basically the whole movie relies on the idea that you already know and care about these characters and their situation... except you don't. And they aren't interesting. The only interesting characters are side characters... and they aren't that interesting either.

    But I digress. After an hour of nothing really, the movie picks up a little. But then we have these two major events happen that could lead to some interesting things. At the very least we should get a glimpse of what happens after to the main character and society. But we don't. We get a very confusing scene of a woman watering plants for about a minute and it's over. There's no conclusion. It feels like the end of the first episode to a series where there is supposed to be so much more and this was just the introduction. Except it's not. It's a movie. And there should be more.

    Basically, it feels like they just ran out of actors and money and time and ... everything? So they just shot this and decided that was good enough to put out.

    The concept isn't bad. But unless you like sitting for a hour of boredom before getting somewhere and then not even getting an ending, it's not worth it. I'd probably be giving it one star except I'm a bit of a sucker for the concept and I did manage to watch the whole thing... But it's not good. Wasted potential.
  • In the future, a disease has spread around the world which leaves people dead upon reaching forty. After the chaos of wars and governmental collapses, a new totalitarian regime has risen in London which only offers a cure to its people inside the safe city of Arcadia. There is a lottery to allow people into Arcadia. Charlie works for Arcadia and is desperate to gain entry for himself and his daughter. He is assigned to capture Adam Black, a member of resistance movement 'Free Care'.

    This is a British low budget sci-fi indie with some simple effects. This is mostly filmed in what looks like suburban homes and in the woods. It makes the high tech sci-fi story stall. It doesn't help with the sound quality either. The acting is best described as functional amateurism. The most important aspect is the premise of the movie. The writers are obviously trying to say something about health care. It's trying to be a high-concept sci-fi but the concept needs some more work. It doesn't really get pass a secondary questioning. If Arcadia actually exists, the world would be at its door either threatening it or begging for it to share the cure. This movie construction is simply not built properly. It's a step above film school but a big step below good festival material.
  • The sound in this movie threatened to blow my TV speakers in a bad way.

    The phone rang in the background for three straight minutes.

    The awful bass noises and weird sounds are constant, they don't stop. There is so much annoying noise in this film, it completely destroys the suspense.

    The director should be forced to wear headphones playing the noise on loop for a day. Also, their sub woofers should be smashed so they are not tempted to make this mistake again. I am unable to finish this movie because the sound will not stop and I hate it.

    This is the first movie that I have ever reviewed, I feel the need to warn you, please avoid this movie and the pain it will bring your brain.
  • I'm gonna guess this movie was made by a group of very perceptive people who aren't duped by the propaganda of the government and media. If it can help open some people's eyes, that would be fantastic.

    I won't detail the plot, I don't want to ruin it, the description on IMDB is totally sufficient, if that sounds interesting, and some of the downsides below I mention won't other you, watch it!

    It is very low-budget, with limited sets, mostly filmed indoors, the audio as noted y others isn't great, but honestly, it isn't nearly as horrible as others have claimed. Others claimed some parts were way too loud, but I watched it on my TV and did not find it incredibly uneven. No, I find the sound was less uneven than in "Hacksaw Ridge" in all honesty, which had VERY uneven sound mixing. However, I would say that it is clear in some spots, the mic used was not very high quality, particularly in the scenes with the Asian character, the audio in his scenes are always echo heavy, but not to the point you can't understand him. The rest of the audio is good enough, other then sometimes the music playing in the background is slightly too loud. Again, minor sound issues, nothing that for most people, will destroy the enjoyment of the film.

    For a movie with limited locations that is 100% dialogue driven, and not being able to show the actual city talked about "Arcadia" due to budget constraints, I never lost interest. Obviously some people here have shorter attention spans and are annoyed by the constant dialogue, and if that annoys you. I'd avoid this. The script here is quite solid and the acting performances are all decent to good. Not a ad actor here, which for a cast of unknowns, is often rare. Despite the dialogue heavy narrative, it is relatively fast-paced, and I was shocked when I found out I was at the final 5 minutes of the film. It didn't feel that long, it stayed interesting throughout, even if I could guess some of the trajectory, I never lost my interest. With limited locations, it succeeds in some decent world building, which is no small feat.

    What really got me abut this movie was how much this parallels our current times, it pretty well is accurate to what is going on right now around the world with the medical tyranny. This movie could not be made with a big budget, no way, it would get stopped before it entered production. Low-budget movie making is really where it's at nowadays if you want solid ideas and scripts, especially in sci-fi.
  • stoneallen28 April 2019
    It would not have hurt to drop $20 on some kind of weapons consultant. He's carrying the exact same Daisy BB gun that I have. Goofballs.
  • ...of the hell we're currently living through. It's also a giant, steaming pile of dook.
  • Like someone else said, sounds are very irritating. I had to put voulume to mute after that phone had been ringing minute or so. Otherwise I would recommend this to someone, who loves to see and listen people talking in phone, or who likes to listen many people speaking at the same time different stories. Really annoying. Idea itself was good but movie was too adhd for me.
  • This rather dreary little film is certainly among the very lowest budget films that I have ever seen in my long life. It tries hard, but there is very little, if anything, about this that is surprising. It's about a disease that has taken over the world, but the story is more about the haves and the have-nots. The "haves" live in a fortress where they live for up to 130 years and the 'have-nots", who live in the outside world, only live until about forty years of age. There are lotteries that require people on the outside to do various tasks to score points and when they reach that point, they can enter the fortress and live longer lives. If you cannot predict the outcome for these people playing along with this lottery, you have not seen many movies. The only compliment I can come up with for this film is the credible performance given by the lead, Marc Baylis. However, he is not enough reason to watch this.
  • The story is great and pretty unique. The acting is good. It's a little low budget but all the elements are there. I really liked it.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Disease has taken over the world and there are limited amount of cures. Those who are cured live to be 130 in Arcadia. Everyone else lives outside the city, living to an average age of 39. There is a lottery which allows people to gain entrance as well as a carrot on a stick program which allows others entry through a points system.

    The story centers on Charlie (Marc Baylis) a guardian outside of Arcadia with a dying wife and daughter. He enters into the points system. His handler is Jacob (Akie Kotabe) who assigns him tasks. The time period jumps six years later. Charlie's wife has long passed and his latest assignment is to capture a man named Adam Black (Joseph Baker). He is part of a rebel movement called "Free Care."

    The film has various themes: Medicine vs natural cures. Health care rationing where only the rich survive. And of course government conspiracy and control.

    The film is high on theme and low on action. I thought Akie Kotabe did a great job with a complex character.

    Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I watch several movies everyday. I'm much more patient with the first few. So, maybe my early day patience has extended to this flick. It's an Agenda 21 or Agenda 20/30, population control kinda thing. A Georgia Guide Stones kinda thing. Only elite are allowed to live. And the "systems", both the lottery and points system, are shams. Winners of the lottery, and attainers of the points goal are eliminated within two days. So still, it's all for the elites. Lots of messaging in this one; with light action.
  • People who view this as fiction are drinking fluoridated H2O & are sedated into believing that everything is fine! Wakeup....either pay attention & learn something or simply enjoy an entertaining film. Similar scenarios are already happening & depicted here in a well written script. If you don't believe at least know that this film is fascinating & fun to view! I really enjoyed watching this movie but it scared me as well!
  • This movie was solid.

    I do not understand the low reviews.

    The plot is sound, even with the deep politics. The acting is decent. The dialogue is not bad.

    This film relates well to COVID-19 at its worst; so, I figure the reviews would be great from US Republicans and Democrats.