This is the first Rose Scholars event I’ve been to that I would have left midway if I didn’t need a post for the week. It felt like an amateur was given a huge budget but very little supervision to make a movie out of whatever they wanted. The storyline was mediocre, but the execution was absolutely terrible. Poorly-used cliches and one-liners as well as a “rule of cool/drama” approach to realism turned this film into as much of a flaming heap of garbage as the literal burning trash thrown in halfway through.
Cliches-
- Friday is the smart but socially anxious one (how has she even acted as Karen for so long?)
- “Identical” siblings can mimic each other perfectly (down to the biometrics the bracelet presumably collects)
- Get shot anywhere and you’re dead…
- …except if you need to die a more dramatic death later
- Hit literally anywhere? Instant bloodstains on your face (ex. everyone leaving the crashed car)
- Wednesday hanging off a cliff/building as antagonist slowly approaches
- Armed patrols always in ready position with gun ready to fire
- Fall unconscious? You’ll be fine when you wake up (Thursday after Friday bomb)
- “I did it for love…and I’m pregnant too” (though this one would have been ok by itself)
- The pompously mysterious “I know your secret” coworker
- The government is lying to cover up something really horrible
- Not suffering makes dying ok
- Monday’s babies are most important (in giant tank in the middle of the other babies)
Realism issues-
- Unexplained “Federation” replacing modern countries
- No one is suspicious that you cannot visit people who are in “cryosleep”
- No one is suspicious about signs of activity in room when “Karen” out?
- Why does their grandfather know how to mess with the bracelets (without any visible change, even)?
- Seriously, how did the government keep the truth a secret for 20+ years- the septuplets are 30 and couldn’t have been more than 10 in the flashbacks- when any random agent’s bracelet has access to the entire system?
- Servers destroyed-> systems still working
- Friday can do whatever she wants on systems that she should know nothing about
- Kind of nitpicky, but most of the displays are clearly meant to look cool but would not actually be useful
- Smoke grenades do not affect Thursday and Friday breathing
- Agents fail to surround buildings they are storming
- Saturday seems to start liking Adrian for no reason
- Thursday somehow can get away from Monday and change and clean up when Monday still alive and still has the gun
- Main antagonist not nearly personable enough to be a successful politician and the general public apparently hate her policies too (enough to attack the CAB agents without question as Wednesday runs)
- No one questions Adrian hanging around the “cryosleep” room after handing over Thursday even when he’s probably not supposed to know the truth
- “cryosleep” machine seriously resource intensive despite supposed shortage
- likely “concussions” only last for a few seconds
- Going through wall of hidden room leads to empty building
Contradictions-
- “We have to tell each other absolutely everything” -> turns out was hiding relationship (how is so much missing time not suspicious?)
- “we are working for a better tomorrow”-> shoot random civilians because they’re kind-of-not-really in the way
- “we need to keep this quiet” -> send tens of armed soldiers running into a civilian building and shoot smoke grenades in the middle of the day
- Wednesday shot in the head-> “she died by falling”
Other things-
- Creepy, oversized fetuses
- Awkwardness/forcedness of everything with Adrian (from his introduction to scene at septuplets’ apartment to scene at his apartment to Thursday threatening him in the car)
- Saturday shot in head from back-> head sent backwards
- Wednesday’s holographic punching bag
- Thursday can operate the “cyrosleep” machine without any user permissions
- Skateboarding accident somehow leads to losing part of a finger
- Agents find button to hidden room immediately (clearly know its there)
- Sudden background music changes
I see where Magdala was coming from with the “power” angle, but the film’s failings completely overshadowed any message I got. There are so many movies and even real-life stories that illustrate power and its methods much more effectively.
That’s not to say the film was all bad. There were a couple scenes I liked, like Friday’s last scene and Saturday’s reveal of her virginity (changing the image she’s build up until then) and her willingness to sacrifice it to better their chances at survival. But yeah, generally did not like the film and probably would have walked out at the impromptu finger surgery if this wasn’t part of Rose Scholars.
I think you went into this film with the wrong intent. Yes the movie had flaws that, if overanalyzed, could take away from the overarching themes of the film. But that is only if you sit through the movie intent on criticizing every scene. Enjoying a film and understanding its message are two separate things. But if you are so hellbent on finding flaws then you are not likely to enjoy it, nor are you going to be able to focus on the themes it tries to present. I agree that things did not make sense, the finger hanging off from a skating accident is a clear plot device to show the hardships of living one collective life. Also, there is predictability as you can assume early on that [Spoiler] set them up. Yes, these are cliche devices used time and time again in films but by only focusing on the negatives you missed the point of showing this film. The idea of showing this movie was to spark discussion about the power structure in the world and to draw parallels with our modern society, so I do think you should focus on whether or not you “liked” the film but rather focus on the meaning behind it and why it serves an example of how power can be abused and corrupt when the people blindly follow in a response to a crisis.
That’s fair, I did get carried away in bashing the film. But if I really wanted to look at the social messages in this film then I’d focus more on individuality then on the abuse of power. While there were certainly parallels to how power is actually used, the film was so exaggerated that it was difficult to take seriously.
I didn’t go in with the intent of criticizing the film; it was just such a wreck that it became more interesting and morbidly enjoyable to tally the flaws than to pay attention to the extremely blunt and repetitive propaganda and power abuse.
I agree with Zach, this post seems unusually mean-spirited. I would encourage you to avoid this type of CinemaSins-style nitpicking in the future, and instead approach art with an open mind. I myself have found that making this change in how I engage with media has been extremely rewarding.
If you’re referring to the “flaming heap of garbage” comment, I included that almost entirely because I wanted to comment on the actual burning garbage in the film coming out of nowhere and was feeling clever. I did go farther than I usually would in bashing this movie and, as I have already recognized, may have gotten carried away. However, there is such thing as a bad movie, and I still believe this was one. You are, of course, free to disagree, but I would rather you did so, as Zach did, by actually talking about the movie rather than by suggesting, however mildly, that I am close-minded and mean. I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way, but that’s how you’re coming off to me.
I wanted to comment on this post because I agree with you that focusing on the themes of this movie can be difficult, given that the movie has some significant flaws. I had already seen this film, and came to watch it again only because I could not make another Rose Scholars event last week. Let me say that watching this movie for the second time is a brutal slog. The first time, I remember being impressed with the sisters’ resilience and agency in the face of their circumstances. But knowing what’s going to happen to the sisters made it all seem futile – and knowing the plot left me free to focus more on smaller details and technical choices. In particular, the amount of violence in this movie is a problem for me. I know it’s supposed to be indicative of the brutality of the regime the Settmans live under, but at some point gratuitous violence is just gratuitous violence. I also feel it distracts from the themes the film handles better – the way the Settmans assert their individuality despite being forced to share one life, as well as the compromises they are forced to make by their circumstances.