I'm a big fan of dystopian novels and films--I think they present some interesting ideas, especially when based on things that truly exist, like current technology. One of the characters makes the wonderful observation that we no longer have cell phones, we have computers that allow us to make phone calls. Is there anyone who truly thinks about the technology at our fingertips who has not thought of such a thing at one time or another?
That's not to say that the film isn't riddled with improbabilities. When using current technology as a springboard for ideas, some leaps of logic can go awry. As an American, I loved the idea of the United States government being the "bad guys," even when I have doubts that some of our techs and politicos can barely tie their shoes without supervision. I won't go into the tech issues, which have been covered already. Sometimes you need to speed up processing times for the sake of the story and sometimes "goofs" are deliberately made to keep people from doing incredibly stupid things by reproducing what they see in a movie. As long as the story moves forward in a reasonably logical way, I can be a bit forgiving.
The cinematography for this film was truly excellent. It relied on a few special effects, but nothing that would have prevented the film from being enjoyable without them. Honestly, because most of it took place in one room, it could probably be adapted to a stage play without much effort. The fact the director could get so much intensity from such a limited primary cast in such a limited environment says much about this relative new guy's skills. I will probably keep an eye out for future films, even though I'll probably have to stream them as I did this one.
What really prompted me to give this film an 8 rather than a 7 was that I saw the dubbed version. Anyone who's watched a dubbed film knows that dialogue suffers, especially due to the lack of intensity in the dub actors' voices. This lack of intensity could have ruined the final five minutes of the story, but for the very emotive acting being done there. That I enjoyed the film as much as I did, even being dubbed, says a lot for the film.
Review by LoupGarouTFTs from the Internet Movie Database.