Scratchpad

Spiderhead (2022) dir Joseph Kosinksi A fairly lame, not-very thrilling, sci-fi thriller set in the present day / near future, in a special prison, called Spiderhead. All the inmates have volunteered to be transferred here from various other prisons, on the condition that they agree to be test subjects for drugs developed by scientist / warder Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). The main character is Jeff (Miles Teller), jailed for a drunk driving offence that killed his passenger. The prison is very low security with only a a few guards. Although they are in an isolated island location (I think a small Hawaiian Island) and unable to leave, within the prison they have a lot of freedom. There's no actual cells but rooms more like a basic hotel and they are free to go wherever they like within the prison, cook their own food, play video games etc. Also male and females inmates are free to mingle. Each day a couple of them take part in various tests. These are sort of psychological as the drugs, administered from an implant in their backs controlled by an app on Steve's phone, alter their moods, emotions and behaviour. One, for example, is meant to make people fall in love, another makes them find everything funny. Clearly, being a so called thriller, there is more to the drugs than the prisoners have been told, and something obviously goes wrong. I found the script to be quite poor. The thing that goes wrong was very predictable. Although you have allow for artistic license and recognise this is a work of fiction not real life, it's quite ridiculous to believe that Steve and his assistant did not foresee this might happen and take measures to prevent it. Jeff figures out some of what is really going on and it ends with him and fellow inmate Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) making an escape bid. Here they are pursued by guards and other inmates in quite a comical fashion, I assume unintentionally. The acting is OK but it didn't call for anything special. It does have a good set (I'm guessing a real-life building rather than purpose built) which with the island landscape does allow for some decent cinematography. The soundtrack is nice too, a few songs that can be heard in various versions of GTA! But overall this is one I would say not to bother with, unless you really cannot find anything else on Netflix. 4 / 10 Infinity Pool (2023) dir Brandon Cronenburg A psychological / sci-fi horror that I nearly didn't watch giving it's warning for extreme, graphic violence and gore. But I'm glad I did because although there are a couple of scenes that certainly warrant such a warning, most of the film is not like that. It stars Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth as somewhat spoilt, wealthy westerners on holiday in a fictitious tropical, island nation (I'm guessing meant to be somewhere like the Seychelles, Bali, etc.) with their respective partners. Although their resort seems great, it's fenced off from the rest of the island and outside the locals, obviously not at all wealthy, have some strange customs. James (Skarsgard) is a struggling author there with his very rich wife. Actress Gabi (Goth) and her architect husband have been here before and are part of a community of other such couples who spend some time each year on this island. Gabi gets to know to James telling him she is a fan of his one-and-only published novel. The two couples go on an unauthorised day-trip out of their resort and on their way back, at night, there's a car accident which they choose not to report, but that clearly leaves a local man injured or worse. Next day the police turn up and arrest James. I can't say too much more on what happens next without spoiling what is a very good, original plot. Lets just say their justice system has some strange and eerie aspects. But the authorities want the tourist dollars to keep flowing, so they allow wealthy visitors to buy their way out of a punishment, taking advantage of a macabre local tradition. This aspect is what makes the film a bit sci-fi / fantasy, and ultimately leads to the horror. James does take advantage of this but then find himself kind of trapped on the island whilst his wife leaves. Like I say, I found this a very interesting and original story. The two main actors are good; as I would expect from Mia Goth. It builds up the tension and horror gradually and has some good special effects. There's a very scary detective Thresh, a very sinister figure who comes across as being very friendly and sympathetic before he then turns on you. Don't be put off by the warnings for the graphic violence and s*x if that's not your sort of thing. There are just a couple of each. But be aware they will happen and be ready to look away / fast forward. This is the only film I have seen by Brandon Cronenburg, who also wrote the script, but based on this I would say he is clearly following in his father (David's) footsteps as talented sci-fi horror film maker. 8 / 10