Zoo-Head |
UK • 2019 • 80m •
   • Directed by: Navin Dev. • Starring: Daniel Ahmadi, Hussina Raja, Brian Potter Jr., Ross Mullan, Jason Wing, Roik Rajnak, Audrey Mailhol. • Music by: Matt Marlow.  Charlie is a zoo-head, addicted to a powerful hallucinogenic with memory crunching side-effects. He is forced by the authorities to enter a radically experimental rehabilitation treatment. The system crashes and he becomes trapped in horrifying memory loops.
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Review:
The acting is decent, no one was bad, unless I suppose you're not used to low-budget films. At first I wasn't feeling the acting, but it got better as it went along, I was afraid the acting was be awful throughout the film, but it is not. The script isn't bad as some people may imply here, the story and characters are interesting, and the film does not overstay it's welcome.
The concept of the drug Zootropics is interesting in it, it is a highly addictive drug, that's purpose seems to be to make you forget things and put you in a blissful state, but on the flip side, it has permanent effects on your memory. This is the crux of the film, it is really painful memories and trauma and what we do to forget them.
I was a little confused why some people had some type of English accent and some had an American accent, but other than that, I enjoyed the movie. I thought, while it definitely borrows a lot from films such as "Groundhog's Day" and even "Inception", it does it very well. It isn't a carbon copy, it takes the barebones of the concepts in "Groundhog Day" and "Inception" to some degree. The earlier film "11:59" used the same concept as "Groundhog Day", before "Groundhog Day" came out, and many movies since have used this plot device. Zoo-head" genuinely tries to put a fresh spin on the concept, and while it doesn't totally succeed, largely due to budget constraints, I give it points for doing a decent job and putting in some fresh ideas.
The main character Charlie, at first, is a pretty awful and loathsome person, like the friend you don't want, but keep helping anyway. He is a total addict and doesn't care that he is a mess and eats rotten meat because he's so wasted. Despite this, there is an actual character arc and growth for the main character, and the side characters are interesting enough. His girlfriend is actually not an awful person, and really grounds the film. This is a movie about people in desperate circumstances, some who want to get out of them, and some who don't. I felt the lead character's journey was genuine, and the conclusions that he had reached by the end actually made sense, they felt like a natural progression of his character, not just convenient plot contrivances; that, for me, is one of the things that elevates this film above average. It isn't extremely technically proficient, but it is serviceable in regards to direction, lighting, pacing, sound, etc.
This film was not overly ambitious, but it had interesting and a few unique plot turns, and realistic characters. There are several possibilities by the end, it is left fairly open, and having watching the movie twice, there are several hints of what could actually be taking place, several different ideas, but it is wisely left open for us to interpret.
I also love the movie cover art, it is pretty eye catching.
Review by betchaareoffendedeasily from the Internet Movie Database.
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