REALIVE

(director/writer: Mateo Gil; cinematographer: Pau Esteve; editor: Guillermo de la Cal; music: Lucas Vidal; cast: Tom Hughes (Marc Jarvis), Oona Chaplin (Naomi), Charlotte Le Bon (Elizabeth), Barry Ward (West), Julio Perillan (Dr. Serra), Bruno Sevilla (Charles), Nikol Kollars (Dr. Gethers); Runtime: 107; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Ibon Cormenzana/Ignasi Estape; SyFy; 2016-Spain/France)

“Dull but with enough polish to gloss over its major flaws.“

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A well-crafted but misdirected futuristic sci-fi experimental film made in English by Spanish director-writer Mateo Gil (“Blackthorn”/”Nobody Knows Anybody”). It’s an inert film that seems to think it’s profound when it’s only diverting. Marc Jarvis (Tom Hughes) is a young man who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and decides to freeze his body, hoping that in the future there will be a cure. Sixty years later, in the year 2084, he becomes the first frozen man to be revived in history. He wakes up surrounded by cheering scientists and the resurrected man is nicknamed Lazarus. While trying to bring on a full mental and physical recovery, Marc thinks about his past, the special something in his life Naomi (Oona Chaplin), and the purpose of life. The friendly nurse Elizabeth (Charlotte Le Bon) gives him a tutorial on the new world that he’s woken up to. The narration ties together Marc’s full life span in his own voice, as we hear him think aloud about what has gone down for him. What the film ultimately does is try to ask us if it’s really worth it to live forever, as it offers flashbacks and meditation exercises to help us decide.

But without much of a story, I found it dull but with enough polish to gloss over its major flaws. Via the Mind Writer device, a featured futuristic invention, it leaves with the optimism that we can now explore both our minds and the minds of others, which gives us hope that technology can give us a better future if we don’t destroy the world through our immoral behavior.

REVIEWED ON 10/11/2017 GRADE: C    https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/