PROTOCOL 7
(director/writer: Andrew Wakefield; screenwriter: Terry Rossio; cinematographer: Jordan Bogart; music: Will Taylor; cast: Matthew Marsden (Dr. Jay), Rachel G. Whittle (Alexis Koprowski), R. Brandon Johnson (Josh), Josh Murray (Steve Schilling), Christopher Scott (adopted child), Harrison Tipping (Kirk), Eric Roberts (Errani, ceo of drug company), Alec Rayme (Stone); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Brian Wendal, Joey Vasatka; Abramorama; 2024)
“It, for sure, raises relevant questions but does itself no justice by being too talky and lacking entertainment value.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Andrew Wakefield (“Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe”) directs a true story, cover-up, corporate thriller, whistle-blower film on Big Pharma (concerning Merck), that’s not an anti-vax film but a cautionary one to make you are aware that vaccines are not always being properly tested. He co-writes the stilted screenplay with Terry Rossio. At the conclusion, Wakefield says “This film was made for you, so you might explore important issues and decide accordingly. You are the jury.” Unfortunately it’s a disjointed film whose important message deserved a better execution. It, for sure, raises relevant questions but does itself no justice by being too talky and lacking entertainment value.
Wakefield points out how Merck in 2010 manipulates the medical data of the mumps vaccines, pointing out how the drug company went to extreme measures to fake the success of a mumps vaccine that claimed a 96 percent success rate.
The story revolves around the caring small-town family lawyer Lexi Koprowski (Rachel G. Whittle) and her husband Josh (R. Brandon Johnson) adopting a child (Christopher Scott) living in poverty in Africa to give him a better life. The kid was smart and bright, but when he came back with the family to the United States and received all the vaccines he was required to get, his health deteriorated. He stopped speaking and became fearful of everything. It was thought that he was autistic.
When Dr. Jay (Matthew Marsden, Brit actor) learns of the incident, he teams with the virologist Steve Schilling (Josh Murray), of a prominent lab site, to reveal the company was putting out false test results for Merck’s MMR vaccine. Dr. Jay thereby hires Lexi to litigate the case he brings against Merck.
A decade later the litigation is still going on.
It’s hard for the sympathetic little guy to beat the big guy in court, but the underdogs at least deserve a better crafted film about their life struggle than this one. Nevertheless I recommend it as a topical political/medical film worth seeing, that shines the spotlight on corruption, corporate malfeasance and the individual’s fight for justice in the courts.
Eric Roberts plays the corrupt Merck head, who tells his guys to make sure the test results favor Merck. Alec Rayme is one of the Merck doctors who is willing to fix the data to keep his job.
It played at the Montreal Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 7/23/2024 GRADE: B-
dennisschwartzreviews.com