So, I've been seeing the ads for this film for a while now, and it always looked like a really interesting concept. Even looking at IMDb's summary of the film sells it as a sort of science fiction film.
Nothing you see in the ads or read in the summaries has anything to do with the actual film.
While the footage from the ads featuring strange creatures that seem to embody brands and feed off the desires of the populous for the brand is indeed in the film, it takes more than half the film to get to that point. The first half of the film shows the protagonist as marketing executive who gets caught as a pawn in a scheme to make fast food brands more popular. Throughout this section of the film, there is no indication that you'll ever see any of the footage that has been presented in the ads.
After the halfway point, the story radically shifts gears and we finally start to see the images that sold us on the film. However, it must be made clear that this isn't the story, and in fact the climax seems very strange compared to the first half of the film. Each brand has it's own weird monster, which really might be nothing more than the protagonist hallucinating (it's never really made clear and no one else ever sees or acknowledges these monsters), and eventually the monsters fight. However, again, there's no indication that any of it's really going on save in the protagonists head.
Now, that said, the movie itself is pretty interesting. I think that if they had sold it as what it really is, it might attract the right audience for it. As it is, the movie is being marketed solely around it's climax which has a drastic tone and premise shift from the rest of the film. Yes, there is a narrator who seems to be the filmmakers short cut, but it doesn't really add much to the film and every now and again seems inappropriate. The film felt long, but that may be because a part of you is waiting for the movie you expected to see to start.
Over all, this may be more of a Netflix rental for most people. It's not the movie it wants you to think it is, and it's not the movie you expect it to be. However, if you can get past the downright dishonest marketing, the movie isn't half bad. It has a lot of flaws, and the end of the film feels like it needed some sort of biting twist that was hinted at, but never fully arrived.
I don't regret seeing it, but I wish I'd waited until I could pay less to see it.
Nothing you see in the ads or read in the summaries has anything to do with the actual film.
While the footage from the ads featuring strange creatures that seem to embody brands and feed off the desires of the populous for the brand is indeed in the film, it takes more than half the film to get to that point. The first half of the film shows the protagonist as marketing executive who gets caught as a pawn in a scheme to make fast food brands more popular. Throughout this section of the film, there is no indication that you'll ever see any of the footage that has been presented in the ads.
After the halfway point, the story radically shifts gears and we finally start to see the images that sold us on the film. However, it must be made clear that this isn't the story, and in fact the climax seems very strange compared to the first half of the film. Each brand has it's own weird monster, which really might be nothing more than the protagonist hallucinating (it's never really made clear and no one else ever sees or acknowledges these monsters), and eventually the monsters fight. However, again, there's no indication that any of it's really going on save in the protagonists head.
Now, that said, the movie itself is pretty interesting. I think that if they had sold it as what it really is, it might attract the right audience for it. As it is, the movie is being marketed solely around it's climax which has a drastic tone and premise shift from the rest of the film. Yes, there is a narrator who seems to be the filmmakers short cut, but it doesn't really add much to the film and every now and again seems inappropriate. The film felt long, but that may be because a part of you is waiting for the movie you expected to see to start.
Over all, this may be more of a Netflix rental for most people. It's not the movie it wants you to think it is, and it's not the movie you expect it to be. However, if you can get past the downright dishonest marketing, the movie isn't half bad. It has a lot of flaws, and the end of the film feels like it needed some sort of biting twist that was hinted at, but never fully arrived.
I don't regret seeing it, but I wish I'd waited until I could pay less to see it.