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Reviews
Level 16 (2018)
Solid well executed thriller
We watch a film for a purpose. When we watch fiction, we do so because it offers a view into an unreal world, it's a temporary escape from reality, by its design and by our choice.
Once there, demanding that the film be realistic completely misses the point. You want realism, watch a documentary, or better yet turn off the screen completely. "Not realistic" is necessarily an inherently spurious criticism of fiction.
The fact that the film happens to take place in the same place, and that it is likely to be low budget as a result, has no relevance to the quality of the film, so long as it doesn't appear to be low budget. This film doesn't. Not by a long shot. The story itself lends itself to a limited environment - much like Severance on Apple TV, which is critically acclaimed yet takes place in three rooms and a hallway. This film shouldn't be penalized for offering a clean around the edges, credible environment with solid effects simply because it happens to occur in a handful of rooms and cost less to make than a film with 20 explosions in Times Square.
I haven't seen the Island or some of the other mentioned films that would render this one "so transparently unoriginal." If you boil it down far enough, you would get the same 12 or so storylines for over 75% of the new films being made. To me, it was like a Black Mirror episode. Not the most uplifting film of the year, but it was damn good, with an original take on this general storyline.
With all that to the side, we are left with a compelling thriller, with excellent directing, top rate acting, immersive score, edited just right, and a script that just fits the story perfectly. If you find yourself rooting for and caring about the protagonist as she fights for her life, you are enjoying the film. I was.
Bravo to everyone who made this come together as it did. And thank you.
Is this a must see? If this is your genre, I think the answer is yes. It's not mine, and I came across it by accident. But now I'm intrigued.
Is it worth seeing on a big screen? I think all well made and well acted and scored thrillers come to life on a big screen in a special way, and I wish I had seen it first in a theater, and I would have been happy to pay for a ticket.
This film comes with my high recommendation.