FIX, THE
(director/writer: Kelsey Egan; cinematographer: Shaun Harley Lee; editor: Richard Starkey; music: Patrick Cannell, Sean Fouri, Michael Medhurst; cast: Grace Van Dien (Ella McPhee), Clancy Brown (Chairman), Aidan Scott (Boxer), Daniel Sharman (Eric O’Connors), Terri Lane (Russ), Robyn Rossouw (Gina), Nicole Fortuin (Angela), Caleb Payne (Max O’Connors), Kennan Arrison (Solomon), Matthew Van Leeve (Donovan), Zinzi Lennon-Richie (Starstruck girl), Duane Behrens (Officer Andries Thompson), Tafara Nyatsanza (Tully), Litha Bam (Durrant), Shane John Kruger (Troy), Greteli Fincham (Tamsin), Chris van Rensburg (Shiloh), Tina Redman (Spider), Christian Bennett (Christiaan), Ryan Kruger (Ryan), Chris Fisher (Zane); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Grei Buckle, Kelsey Egan, Jeremy Walton, Allison Friedman, David Lyons; Crave Pictures/Gravitas Ventures; 2024-South Africa-in English)
“A relevant and transformative film for our divisive times.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The South African Kelsey Egan (“Glasshouse”), a stunt performer turned writer/director, does an amazing job with this indie, low-budget, environmental/horror futuristic sci-fi film. It’s well-produced, superbly acted, and is a relevant and transformative film for our divisive times. It touches on topical concerns over the high cost of drugs by Big Pharma and of deadly environmental issues caused by a corrupt government.
“The Fix” centers around its high concept environmental theme that asks the pharmaceutical companies to “give people a choice” by making their drugs affordable to the masses and of doing the research to continually bring out new products.
In the near dystopian future, the air is toxic for most people in the world who live in “Red Zones.” People must wear special masks outside to breathe. The giant global pharmaceutical company called Aethera created an expensive drug, with limited supplies, that only the rich can afford. It helps you breathe the polluted air and makes life more bearable–though mask wearing may still be needed.
The young face of the company on commercials is a supermodel, Ella McPhee (Grace Van Dien), who has been taking the drug and because of it leading a comfortable life. It has been a year since the death of her beloved mother and she wishes to relieve her sadness by partying with her boyfriend. But discovers at the party that her boyfriend Tully (Tafara Nyatsanza) has been cheating on her with her best friend Gina (Robyn Rossouw). She has a fit seeing them acting intimate, as he puts a new drug serum on her lips. Ella is unaware that it’s an experimental drug stolen from one of Aethera’s underground labs, and she foolishly downs all of its content in the vial. But does not realize that the morally ethical scientist Solomon (Kennan Arrison) who created the drug withholds it from the company because he disapproves of them marketing it only to the rich, and has not fully tested it on himself because he’s too scared of what might happen if he took it all at once.
This results in Ella unwittingly becoming a test subject and undergoing severe physical changes that alters her life as she thinks of herself as a monster, as her face is covered with a patchy skin. But she now is immune to the toxic air and needs no mask, has superpowers as she transforms into a hybrid human/animal with mutation changes in her DNA. She also may have the ability to save the world, as the oily young honcho of the Big Pharma company Aethera, Eric O’Connor (Daniel Sharman), uses his goon squad to go after her and Solomon. Eric wants to harvest a new species from her mutation to get hold of the formula and control the supply line, as she goes from being a party glamor gal to being the unlikely possible voice of resistance against Big Pharma.
The derivative film borrows freely from many other such bizarre sci-fi films (like Ken Russell’s Altered states), but retains its own uniqueness.
Aethera’s corporate head is the pic’s main villain for corporate corruption and greed, who is the company’s behind-the-scenes suave and clever evil board chairman (Clancy Brown), someone the public never gets to know but who runs the show.
Ella and Solomon flee after chased by Big Pharma’s bought off local police. Solomon is caught but Ella escapes and can’t be followed, as she has turned into a good fairy, spouting arms with spikes and dragonfly wings. She’s a survivor in this strange new world that strongly favors the rich, whereby she now becomes the people’s last hope in trying to get the needed drug to be affordable (as she assumes the role of an environmental superhero).
This is a better than average sci-fi film that brings a new bold look, great visuals, some lively action sequences and a challenging fantasy underdog story about the fight against corporate greed and corrupt governments.
Its offbeat imaginative story connects us with the local street scene in Cape Town, South Africa, and the inside workings of a Big Pharma company concerned about bringing out new products for profit.
Even if its story is implausible, its depiction of corporate greed is universally true.
It can be best viewed for its exciting chase scenes, something the film does really well.
REVIEWED ON 12/27/2024 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com