Numb (2003) User Reviews

A fair film, well written. I liked it.

[garethhardy · 5/10 · 31 March 2001]

Not many people have heard of the film Yerba City, which i feel is a great shame.

The film is surreal, and you can see the reflection of the modern drug culture throughout the film.

It's worth watching just to see the wonderful Andrew Abelson. Overall the acting is ok, but the script leaves a lot to be desired.

All the ingredients, none of the result

[Polaris_DiB · 4/10 · 10 May 2007]

In a post-apocalyptic world, people are addicted to "the drip", an intravenous drug (something like an opiate) that causes people to zone out and stare off into space. A woman named Claire is searching for her father, the inventor of the drip, through a stark, empty landscape. She meets up with a man called Miles, who is also off the drip, and the two of them move through an empty landscape discussing the debilitating disease that is life and generally being existentially angsty.

The cover for this movie literally called out to me, comparing it to such masterpieces as THX 1138, Stalker, and Alphaville. I certainly didn't expect it to be as good as any of those films, but I definitely expected it to be better than this! The story, performances, and imagery are all generally decent, and should have added up to a relatively enjoyable or at least compelling experience. However, the directing came off as a bit lazy, and this movie serves as the first time I've ever found editing to be pretentious. Mostly, however, the movie lacks a hook.

Tarkovsky, Godard, and Lucas Gibson doesn't try to be--though at one point I think he thinks he's Polanski--but he definitely gives off a sense of being taught by the philosophical science fiction creators. There is no single ingredient in this film I don't like: post-apocalypse, drug warfare, philosophical pretenses, high contrast black and white photography; however, Gibson seems to have forgotten the part where we're supposed to care. These characters only seem to exist, and the continual cutting back and forth between Claire's idyllic memories in color and the contemporary moment, plus the non-chronological editing that was anything but revealing, makes the whole film sort of drudge by directionlessly. With sharp visuals such as this had, one's eyes shouldn't be flickering constantly to the timer.

All in all, as a low budget, somewhat short science fiction feature, I guess it's not entirely bad. I don't think it has any real sticking power; and hopefully Gibson is using it more as a way to learn methods of film-making so that he can go on to improve, rather than thinking he's created anything profound.

--PolarisDiB

Moody SciFi Drama

[dslacker · 7/10 · 4 July 2004]

Sometimes slow but always atmospheric submersion into a future world where almost everyone is addicted to the drip. People lounge about in zombie-like trances while main character searches for her father - inventor of the drip.

She has 'help' from one of the few other characters not on the sauce. The film presents a completely self contained universe that is moody, strange, and whole. To make this work on a shoestring budget is quite an accomplishment - one of several things it shares with the original "Night of the Living Dead". This one isn't likely to turn up at your local multiplex but will be worth searching out on video when the time comes.