j* Movie Reviews 2019

Captive State (2019)

This film is kind of a Rube Goldberg machine of film. You bounce back and forth between characters in a kind of endless chain of connection. It's a little bit Mile 22 in its choppy editing and various forms of visualisation, but it doesn't have that same celebration of neural difference to ground it. Maybe Mile 22 meets The Matrix, where alien overlords are providing the captive state rather than AI.

The premise here is the world ten years after an alien invasion, and the possible or potential uprising of humans. When you do see the aliens they are quite a striking rendition, sort of spidery, spikey creatures. But you don't see them much. Mostly it's a downtrodden human story about passing notes and keeping secrets. Everyone has a part to play but they only know and play their parts. A human-machine where the whole is greater than the individuals, and the individuals know not their real roles.

So I guess it's supposed to feel really intriguey. It was okay, but not amazing.

J* gives it 3 stars.