Jamie Hill

It’s like someone wrote an Oscar worthy script and then ripped out the last 50 pages and then handed it in to Netflix.

“We forced an AI bot to watch 1000 hours of Christmas movies and Memento and write a script for us!”

Alex Honnold’s “Free Solo” was a popular film for a while. I would bring it up with my friends and remark how it would make my palms sweat. And maybe it did, a little. “Fall”…I mean my hands and feet were pouring sweat the entire last hour of the film. That’s never happened to me before while watching a movie. Not like this. Some parts were downright nauseating. If you enjoy the physical discomfort of adrenaline, this will be an all-timer for you. Simple plot, sometimes a little dumb, but if you can get over that…what a ride. The intensity of the first minute of the film is largely what you’ll feel for the entire film after the exposition.

Spoiler free: Look, I'm not a "plot hole" guy, one of those people who can't enjoy a movie with subtle inconsistencies, but there's a limit to what anyone can tolerate. This is the second movie I have seen in my life, the first being "2012", where I was offended by the incessant (and almost...smug?) and egregious scientific inaccuracies. From the overall premise to small details, they were so in-your-face and racked up so quickly, I began to wonder if this was satirical. Falling flat on scientific plausibility can be forgivable particularly for independent films, but this was clearly a big budget blockbuster that needed to be WAY tighter with the script. I will give this movie credit in that it has many scenes of epic CGI that are entertaining for that reason alone, but I truly couldn't find any merit elsewhere. More spoiler free critical notes: - The main character (the British one) who was intended to be the likeable softie was based in premise (his beliefs and purpose in the film) on a guy that few of us as moviegoers would relate to, based deeply in conspiracy and kooky theories. I didn't find him, or anyone else, likeable for that matter. Halle Berry's character was fine. - There were many, many "corny hero" lines, which would be funny and tongue-in-cheek in something like a Pixar movie, but this film was halfway taking itself seriously, and they were cringeworthy. - The end of the movie explained the backstory in such a rushed and cop-out fashion, and it tied the plot together in what should have been an "a-ha!" moment but was instead a "dude, cmon, are you kidding me...?" moment. - Multiple, multiple, multiple times, you find yourself saying "this movie should be over because once that happened everyone would be dead", yet folks seem to be invincible. - There was one, possibly two, absolutely EGREGIOUS product placements. Like, not subtle AT ALL. Very offputting. - Characters were constantly making unrealistic decisions, having unrealistic reactions to what should be traumatic events, violating the laws of physics, ignoring the gravity (no pun intended) of their situation. There are plenty more but you get the point. Conceptually this premise could have been absolutely fantastic, and it was absolutely butchered by the script and the production/direction. Same as "2012". Weirdly, I don't regret seeing it, because of the marvel of how bad it was.

This truly is a diamond in the rough. It’s in a found footage format, as if it was just archived footage off a camcorder. I will relent that the writing is mediocre and there are some cliches, but what the film does well, it does top class. Being found footage format, it has no score, no background music really, so the intense scenes feel raw. It is a short movie with about as fast of pacing as you can ask for, really good for short attention span as the story moves along. The character development is surprisingly thorough as well. It is really rare for a film in this budget class to impact me, but I feel very emotionally invested every time I watch this film, even when I know what’s coming. I ache for Andrew by the end. His pain and anger are visceral for me. In my opinion, it’s a unique film totally worth watching. Some may be put off by the camera work and evident low budget, but I find it intriguing.

I have the perfect review for this show. Have you ever seen the clips on TikTok or Instagram where someone feeds a bot 1000 hours of stand up comedy and makes it write a stand up bit? Take that bot-writing technology 3 years from now, and this is the type of script it will write if you feed it a bunch of ABC family sitcoms and tune it slightly raunchy. It is TERRIBLE writing and is exhibitionist about almost every single trope you can think of, and not in a thoughtful or profound way at all. NOBODY talks like this. There is no natural acting talent either. It’s like if you gave an improv class an hour to read the script and put them on camera. I was hopeful this would somewhat resemble Girls, and then I remembered Girls swept the Emmys for a reason. Watch the first half of the pilot of this so you never wonder, and good luck with your next show.

I finished this movie and am profoundly upset. I really wasn’t aware beforehand how absolutely crucial it would be to have a thorough understanding of this universe. If you are a fan of Dune, which I didn’t know had such a following, and you know what to expect coming in and are familiar with everything already, I can see this being a masterpiece for you. What’s upsetting is I was so excited for this based purely on the trailer, and I tried so hard to enjoy it, but alas this movie wasn’t made for people like me. The amount of assumed knowledge is too much for almost anyone to overcome and to the uninitiated, it seems like there isn’t much plot at all. Not to be confused with an aesthetically or aurally pleasing film, it may have the greatest cinematography and score ever. The main takeaway here is you 100% MUST read the books or do deep research on the universe before watching if you want to even have a chance to enjoy this film.

To me, now, there is just life before watching this film and life after watching this film. I, like many others, have sifted through film after film during COVID. This was supposed to be just another movie on just another night. Instead, I was delivered the most meaningful, insightful, profound film of my lifetime. It’s going to change the way I see my life forever. I’ll try to break down the film technically. Of course, the concept is imaginative and thoroughly developed. The screenplay is completely unique it’s delivery of such a clear story with a not-at-all linear storyline. The engaging cinematography and carefully curated soundtrack both lend themselves to driving a story forward in a way I’ve never seen before. If I can criticize anything, the ending was a little abstract but it is an extremely difficult story to wrap up with a bow. In a time where horrible endings are forgiven as open-ended, I’ve seen much worse. Oddly, the impact this movie had on me was fully instilled far before the ending. I have been very firm in what I consider to be the greatest films of all time. The impact that this film had on me forcefully dethroned what sat upon my Mount Rushmore and created a new class for me. It challenged everything I know about story telling. I am in disbelief that this was not picked up as a blockbuster and did not sweep all awards. I hope this review will convince others to invest the time and attention this film deserves and perhaps will change some more lives in the process.