Some other reviewers around here have criticized LEVEL 16 as not being entirely original or being noticeably similar to other comparatively-themed movies. The point is completely legitimate because it's true.
But then again, given the fact that virtually every movie made can usually be easily compared to half a dozen others, if you rely upon this point as a cause for catastrophic criticism then you're going to have a very difficult time finding movies to watch. Personally, a movie has to be UNREASONABLY derivative before I'll start taking points off. I only require that a movie be a WELL-MADE movie about "X" pretty much no matter how often an "X"-themed movie has been made.
Depending upon how far you want to cast your comparison net, you could not only compare LEVEL 16 to "THE ISLAND" / "PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR" / "NEVER LET ME GO" but also to THE TIME MACHINE (why were those Morlocks taking care of the Eloi?) and SOYLENT GREEN (why is the state willing to give people a beautiful death and what's happening to those people?)
Essentially, anytime you have a group of people being confined and/or "managed" by some other group of people for mysterious/unexplained reasons and apparently peculiar circumstances, you have the same story. Obviously "management" has some dark motives in mind and the core of the movie is finding out what those motives are. At the largest scale, even THE MATRIX trilogy was about the same subject matter. People as batteries, unaware of their actual circumstances?
In LEVEL 16 we view the majority of the movie from the perspective of a collection of about 12 approximately 16-year-old girls (hence the name, LEVEL 16) who are being raised in the context of a rigidly regimented, prison-like environment. The pretext they are given for their rather grim confinement is that they are being carefully raised to be "good girls" to be adopted by wealthy, high quality families who are very particular about whom they adopt. They are led to believe that they have been saved from unfortunate circumstances and should not try to leave because the world is in such bad shape that even the air is poisonous outside of their controlled environment. They are led to believe they are indebted to the institution for their care and maintenance. As far as we can tell they have been raised in this environment their entire life and aren't in any position to know any better.
Not unpredictably, very close to their time to be "adopted", a couple of "troublemaker" girls begin to get suspicious and the truth of the artificial construct of their imprisonment begins to break down under scrutiny.
The nitty-gritty details of the whys and what-fors is left to the reader to discover.
LEVEL 16 is not exactly mind-boggling in its concept or execution, but it's a competent execution of its concept and the acting and production values are certainly adequate all around. There's even a hint of Russian mafia context which works well for the situation but doesn't take over the plot line from its focus on the girl's experience.
Nothing about LEVEL 16 is Oscar bound but it's certainly sufficient quality and high production values are true to its subject matter. It's a good execution of the movie it intended to be. For me, this is what justifies reasonably high star score.
But then again, given the fact that virtually every movie made can usually be easily compared to half a dozen others, if you rely upon this point as a cause for catastrophic criticism then you're going to have a very difficult time finding movies to watch. Personally, a movie has to be UNREASONABLY derivative before I'll start taking points off. I only require that a movie be a WELL-MADE movie about "X" pretty much no matter how often an "X"-themed movie has been made.
Depending upon how far you want to cast your comparison net, you could not only compare LEVEL 16 to "THE ISLAND" / "PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR" / "NEVER LET ME GO" but also to THE TIME MACHINE (why were those Morlocks taking care of the Eloi?) and SOYLENT GREEN (why is the state willing to give people a beautiful death and what's happening to those people?)
Essentially, anytime you have a group of people being confined and/or "managed" by some other group of people for mysterious/unexplained reasons and apparently peculiar circumstances, you have the same story. Obviously "management" has some dark motives in mind and the core of the movie is finding out what those motives are. At the largest scale, even THE MATRIX trilogy was about the same subject matter. People as batteries, unaware of their actual circumstances?
In LEVEL 16 we view the majority of the movie from the perspective of a collection of about 12 approximately 16-year-old girls (hence the name, LEVEL 16) who are being raised in the context of a rigidly regimented, prison-like environment. The pretext they are given for their rather grim confinement is that they are being carefully raised to be "good girls" to be adopted by wealthy, high quality families who are very particular about whom they adopt. They are led to believe that they have been saved from unfortunate circumstances and should not try to leave because the world is in such bad shape that even the air is poisonous outside of their controlled environment. They are led to believe they are indebted to the institution for their care and maintenance. As far as we can tell they have been raised in this environment their entire life and aren't in any position to know any better.
Not unpredictably, very close to their time to be "adopted", a couple of "troublemaker" girls begin to get suspicious and the truth of the artificial construct of their imprisonment begins to break down under scrutiny.
The nitty-gritty details of the whys and what-fors is left to the reader to discover.
LEVEL 16 is not exactly mind-boggling in its concept or execution, but it's a competent execution of its concept and the acting and production values are certainly adequate all around. There's even a hint of Russian mafia context which works well for the situation but doesn't take over the plot line from its focus on the girl's experience.
Nothing about LEVEL 16 is Oscar bound but it's certainly sufficient quality and high production values are true to its subject matter. It's a good execution of the movie it intended to be. For me, this is what justifies reasonably high star score.