My quick rating - 1.9/10. I was sent this flick for review by Rafal Zlak, the writer/director, and listed as a star of this one back in October. Obviously, with everything that has happened, I haven't gotten a chance to view it until now. This film definitely falls short of its ambitious aspirations, marred by its perplexing camera work and editing choices. The movie, set in the Las Vegas desert, follows a gangster who hires a mysterious rent-a-man for a game of cat-and-mouse. However, instead of immersing us in the intrigue of this premise, the film's editing becomes a distracting hindrance. The erratic switching of camera angles from a distance, coupled with the gratuitous use of slow motion and shaky camerawork, detracts from the dialogue-heavy scenes. Rather than enhancing the narrative or adding depth to the characters, these stylistic choices feel overbearing and fail to serve any discernible purpose. Despite the attempts to explore the complexities of human nature against the backdrop of the desert, which I am sure is supposed to represent something, maybe the dire nature of gambling, the film ultimately falls short of its mark. The main characters, portrayed by Jakub Baranski and Jomri D., engage in conversations that lead to repetitive and inconclusive conclusions, leaving you with a sense of frustration rather than enlightenment. Those two pictured below are just having a conversation that ultimately just ends with "I don't know" over and over. I have to assume the weird editing after every response was merely to accentuate the actor's words since they couldn't do it with their actual acting prowess. While the film may have aimed to be an arthouse exploration of profound themes, it ultimately struggles to find its footing. The movie is just trying too hard to be an artsy piece of cinema and isn't succeeding. The excessive experimentation with cinematography feels forced and disconnected from the substance of the story, leaving us with a missed opportunity rather than a memorable cinematic experience. But you will get a lot of good looks at the Nevada desert along the way. Slight aside, after reading the notes during the credits. Just because there is testing for neural implants happening as we speak doesn't mean that we are losing our ability to think anytime soon. And it surely would've helped this entire movie if at any point there was a single bit of focus on that as a theme instead of wandering around the desert the whole time.
At this point, you can check this out on Tubi with ads or on these streamers which hopefully you'll visit and purchase to help out the indie filmmakers.
