Surprisingly solid Canadian mockumentary. The concept is simple: what if every kooky conspiracy nut was right. This had the potential to go south and become quite cheesy, and it's impressive that it didn't.
Where it works is how it ties the plot to real life conspiracy theories, peppering in tidbits that you know you've heard about if you've even dipped your toe down the rabbit hole. While I'm not usually one to buy in to that sort of thing, this is a movie plot after all. I've been asked to suspend disbelief about some pretty ludicrous things, giant monsters, time loops, multiverses, the cast of Friends affording their apartments, by contrast the concept that the elite class has nefarious intentions isn't too far fetched. We all know the powers that be don't have the our best interests in mind, it's simply a matter of how much evil goes on behind the curtain. This close tie to reality, supported by the consistent splicing of real news clips, makes it all quite effectively chilling. It even had me googling to see if The Tarsus Club was something that exists outside the film (it doesn't).
While some good tension was built, it all needed to lead somewhere, and this is where it lost a bit of steam for me. It's just a little predictable where the climax inevitably ends up, and while I don't disagree that it needed to go there, there's just something a little drab in watching the expected play out.
Where it works is how it ties the plot to real life conspiracy theories, peppering in tidbits that you know you've heard about if you've even dipped your toe down the rabbit hole. While I'm not usually one to buy in to that sort of thing, this is a movie plot after all. I've been asked to suspend disbelief about some pretty ludicrous things, giant monsters, time loops, multiverses, the cast of Friends affording their apartments, by contrast the concept that the elite class has nefarious intentions isn't too far fetched. We all know the powers that be don't have the our best interests in mind, it's simply a matter of how much evil goes on behind the curtain. This close tie to reality, supported by the consistent splicing of real news clips, makes it all quite effectively chilling. It even had me googling to see if The Tarsus Club was something that exists outside the film (it doesn't).
While some good tension was built, it all needed to lead somewhere, and this is where it lost a bit of steam for me. It's just a little predictable where the climax inevitably ends up, and while I don't disagree that it needed to go there, there's just something a little drab in watching the expected play out.