‘Blu-ray
or Bust’
DISTORTED (2018, R, 86
minutes, BRIDGEGATE PICTURES/MINDS EYE ENTERTAINMENT)
Well folks, I’m not going to waste your time on this one. No need to have 90’s ‘flashbacks’… if you were
even born or remember those times.
The story focuses on a couple, Lauren (Christina Ricci of CASPER, SLEEPY
HOLLOW, and SPEED RACER) and Russell Curran (Brendan Fletcher of FREDDY VS.
JASON, RV, and AIR BUD), who moves into a SMART building. At the start, you are led to believe that Lauren
might be a borderline schizophrenic, having visions and nightmares. She is your unreliable protagonist that
drives the plot. You are never sure how real
her visions are. So, when unusual events
and the building seem to be twisting her reality, you are left wondering.
In point, DISTORTED hinges on the audience’s fear of being watched, someone
seizing control of a fully-automated building to mess with the residents… or
whatever. This is where the movie failed
for me. Yeah, you could have pulled this off about two decades ago, but we are
living in different times.
SPOILER MOMENT…
Having flashing images on the TV and other weird things, the undertone of a
hidden agenda at play, is easy enough to sniff out. Her visions are mainly used
as a way to interject jumps and scary pictures to create tension. We, as a society, have advanced far beyond
this fear thanks to the Information Age.
Everyone already knows that we are constantly watched, one way or
another. The government, cell phones,
and even Amazon knows everything about you.
The 90’s and early 2000’s had a rash of movies on this topic… BAIT, ENEMY OF THE STATE, CONSPIRACY THEORY, HACKERS,
JACOB’S LADDER, THE TRUMAN SHOW, THE MATRIX (if you dare)… plenty of Orwellian
stories. DISTORTED did nothing to add to
the genre. Oh, and John Cusack, in his
brief moments, didn’t offer anything to elevate the project.
As the credits rolled, I didn’t even consider investing more time by
watching the Special Features. If you
need the Special Features to explain the awesomeness of a film, you have
failed. To add, finishing this review se…
Film Grade: D-
Special Features: uhhh…
Blu-ray Necessary: Absolutely Not
-- James S. Austin
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