Residue (2015) User Reviews

Beautiful movie, but left things a lil too ambiguous for my tastes

[dazednconfuuzed8 · 6/10 · 30 March 2015]

You'll recognize both the leads from Game of Thrones, and they do a good job in their respective roles. The characters feel a bit underdeveloped, and I'd hoped they'd at least compensate on the plot end of things... But alas, by the end of the movie you're really none the wiser as to why the catastrophe took place to begin with. It felt like they sorta ripped off that movie "Pulse" and other "ghost possession" movies out there. Sure, they did it really stylishly & there are a couple of creative and honestly disturbing deaths. This whole movie is exquisitely shot and edited, and these are the reasons I give this movie a 6.5 and not a lower score... If I was to base my opinion purely on strength of the plot, it would be considerably lower.. I will say that I am not the type of movie-goer who has to be spoon-fed a plot and can't read subtext... I understand the film was ambiguous intentionally, but I just didn't feel much satisfaction leaving this movie with more questions than answers.

So, it's worth a look if your into arty paranormal stuff, but don't expect to get any type of resolution or explanation for the events in the film.

Nothing but filler, really

[scSCsc · 4/10 · 30 May 2015]

I give residue a 4/10 since it has some great visual appeal. All too often, however, movies - especially with all sorts of special effects technologies available today - rely too much on the fluffy stuff to make their story work when they should put equal thought into actual plot, dialogue, and characterization. There was no real depth to this "pilot" of a miniseries, and I don't feel like watching any more episodes of it. It's like stuffing yourself with cotton balls because you were hungry...not satisfying at all, and in fact might actually end up choking you.

The pacing of the episodes was slower than it needed to be, with way too many shots used for "atmospheric" build-up and not enough actual oomph delivered story-wise. Some scenes were also inserted in awkwardly to info-dump the audience (and it also felt like they were inserted to let the audience dwell even more on the how edgy and artistic the shots are - the creative director indulged way too much in all that). The plot itself was riddled with run-of-the-mill sci-fi/fantasy/thriller tropes - nothing new, and no surprises, there. Anybody who is a fan of sci-fi or fantasy will roll their eyes at this one. Amidst the predictable lines, there were also lots of awkward dialogue spouted, and wooden characters that have no depth and likability, down to the secondary characters. I watched and watched, hoping to find one character that I liked but none were to be found. The setting seemed unnecessarily focused on the Asian culture (Chinatown? Or Japantown? Or what?) and did it in a trivial and mediocre way that had no impact on the plot whatsoever except for some vague exotic appeal (nowhere close to the awesomeness of Firefly's delivery).

**SPOILERS BELOW** Really got the impression the director was just using this shallow, overused storyline to tout their great creative artistic special unique one-of-a-kind aesthetic flair. It's no coincidence the most special-est of characters in the miniseries is a self-obsessed photographer and blogger and also the only truly insightful character who is able to see the shadow-beings AND YET NOT GET ATTACKED BY THEM. Listen up everyone, she is one special gal, destined for greatness just FYI /s. The miniseries takes itself far too seriously to boot. If you like Iwan Rheon, you'd do far better watching the first seasons of Misfits.

The beginning was interesting and intriguing. Turns out it's a pilot ... Damn

[peterp-450-298716 · 5/10 · 16 July 2015]

"Since the explosion, since the construction of the Quarantine Zone, my photographs are different. We're different. Is it despair? Confusion? Rage? Fear? Everything's changed. Maybe forever."

Not knowing what was waiting for me and whether it was worth to watch this alleged horror / mystery (the content seemed interesting to me though), this film visually impressed me afterwards. At the end credits, I was somewhat irritated because the ending made no sense at all and left me with a lot of question marks. Ultimately it was a huge open ending with everything still as mysterious and unexplained as in the beginning. Afterwards I found out that this was a pilot for a brand new television series. What a disappointment ! As a fervent opponent of anything that even resembles a serial, the further course of this nevertheless very intriguing story will be completely unknown to me. However, I am sure that by the third season everything will be very confusing and complicated, because the writers are completely lost and are forced to invent new story lines. That's nothing for me.

The whole story revolves around a massive explosion that occurred in an underground dancing somewhere in futuristic London. According to the government chemicals are released, which leads to evacuating part of the population and a perimeter is established around the disaster area. Jennifer (Natalia Tena) and Jonas (Iwan Rheon) witness this explosion and gradually see their part of the city mutate into an area with military control. Jennifer is a photographer who starts to make photos of local residents after the incident and who discovers that these individuals experience a personality change. They get suicidal and turn out to be downright murderous. Jonas is someone who works for the organization who have closed the area in question (all the buildings in this area are covered with plastic, which creates some surreal images) and gradually he becomes aware that there is more to it than an explosion. And finally there is also Levi (Jamie Draven), a police detective whose daughter died in this explosion.

"Residue" is a fairly depressing film. Not only because of the futuristic story, but also because of the atmosphere and the used color palette. Everything looks bleak, gray and with no future. In retrospect I understood why the film was so slow without really shocking or relevant incidents. That's of course because this is just a long intro to a multiple seasons full of episodes. Only the artistic image fragments are momentary attention grabbers. For the most part it's just observing the main characters wandering around and looking for answers to their questions. After that there's something paranormal coming up. This makes it a little more interesting. So, are you a TV show freak, then I think this one is worth to watch. Instead, I'll stick with my addiction to caffeine and nicotine ... and I'll still eschew the "soapine" for the moment!

More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

It's a Pilot People!!!

[brenjamesuk · 3 April 2015]

Just wanted to to say to all those reviewers that keep saying things like 'It's ambiguous,' 'It feels like nothing was resolved,' and 'I'm no wiser at the end as to what the explanation was

• That's because this is a pilot!!! As the director says:

"The thing I had envisioned was quite a long story. The movie that I was pitching them was essentially the beginning of the mythology, and with success we would have the opportunity to do more, so television sounded really exciting to me, given how it has evolved over the past several years — the novelization of television. Also, many of the networks are really getting creatively engaged with genre material, which was not always true in the early 2000s and going back."

And:

"It's really only the beginning of the story, according to Walls. "'Residue' Season 1 is really an extended pilot and should be thought of that way," she said. "Netflix don't necessarily do the Amazon- style pilot season. But 'Residue' is really more in that model where these first three chapters are live before the existence of a full season."

So now you can all stop moaning about it and trying to be clever! And get to supporting it so the rest of the story is resolved - with a full series!

http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-to-sell-a-TV-show-to-netflix- 20150401

Looks great, less filling...

[venusboys3 · 3/10 · 18 July 2015]

I'm just about never the one to complain that a movie is 'too slow'. 4 hour silent Russian epic? Sign me up! But this movie got the better of me. I'm fine with slow if there's a purpose. Letting a mood or scene sink in... letting characters establish themselves... but in Residue there were loads of scenes where nothing happened and while it established a good mood/atmosphere early on... after a while it just felt like padding. Stylish and good looking, but padding nonetheless.

No surprise then that this is a pilot for a TV show. That leads me to think it's like one of those overwritten Stephen King novels that weighs in at 500+ pages when it really could have been a short story. As it is, since there is a mystery at the core of this setup it has me thinking Lost... do I really want to keep watching for some trumped up ending that won't satisfy?

Also, the characters. If it weren't a pilot then the main character would have been one of the three main ones here. As it is they're all spread thin and none of them engage. The cop doesn't do much of anything, the photographer just stares at her picture and types in her thoughts, her public relations boyfriend is the most proactive but even he doesn't get much to do.

I came away irritated... lacking good will to continue on with the series. I just expect more drawn out stylish nonsense with no real tale to tell.

So terrible I had to watch

[benzinemw · 1/10 · 2 April 2015]

What an appalling movie. Terrible acting, script, effects, plot. From the appalling stilted acting to the exaggerated Scottish accent of the so-called gang leader to the idiot tout strolling around with a haversack on his back and a leather pilot's helmet on his head, it was like watching a badly made you tube clip. I have seen better all round from my local amateur drama group. This movie is so bad I had to watch it just to see if there was any redeeming features about it. No such luck. Films like this make the best argument there is for censorship. Thank the Gods for fast forward, it saved me an hour less wasted. I really must control my masochistic tendencies. I give it a rating of 1 simply because I can't give a 0. If you have any love of movies, DO NOT watch this one.

Resi-Poo

[Theo Robertson · 3/10 · 7 April 2015]

When you've been watching a lot of prestigious award winners and Hollywood commercial blockbusters as I have then you need to change the record slightly and throw yourself in to a guilty pleasure . RESIDUE sounds like the film I might be looking for . A sort of conspiracy thriller come horror movie . In some ways it sounds like a British version of THE CRAZIES . I'll say one thing for it - it's definitely guilty . I'll say something else - it's not a pleasure

An explosion kills 246 people at a nightclub in London and the area is evacuated . Four weeks later murders and bizarre suicides start happening on the periphery of the area . Is there a connection ?

Reading this synopsis it does sound rather like a pulpy James Herbert pulpy trashy horror tale . No one involved with RESIDUE is kidding themselves they're going to winning an Oscar but there is a potential of a good seed there somewhere but instead of growing in to a mighty tree it ends up shrivelled in fungi and quickly dies

To be fair to director Alex Garcia Lopez some shots are very well framed for what is very obviously a film constrained by a very small budget . However he doesn't do anything else well at all . Everything is overdone with constant creepy music drowning out the soundtrack . It's a horror film ? Yes Alex we noticed and can you spend more time developing the story instead of the constant and non stop reminder of the genre we are watching ? What drags the film down is the dire screenplay by John Harrison . We can forgive the ridiculous idea that the government have kept a chemical weapons dump in the heart of London if it's just used to set up the story but many things wrong with the story are unforgivable . The dialogue is always on the nose , unnatural sounding especially when voice over is used and quite frankly just bloody awful . Considering the actors weren't very good to start with their job is made impossible with the tools they're given and I doubt if Anthony Hopkins , Ian Holm or Daniel Day Lewis couldn't have given much of a performance with the lines they have to spout here

Some people on this page have mentioned RESIDUE isn't in fact a stand alone feature length movie but a pilot for a much longer project . In that case let me remind everyone of the Joan Armatrading song lyric " Drop the pilot smell my perfume" because RESI-POO stinks

liked it

[richardhoughton · 6/10 · 31 March 2015]

I just watched this and have to say not bad. I usually like horror movies but this is not a horror. Its a thriller. I found it to be slow for 1 hour 40 but once it got warmed up and we knew who the characters were the movie flew by. I didn't like the start much but I finally got into this sci-fi type movie and enjoyed it. I think there was no quarantine zone and the government were making it up but that's just me with my review. The photographer was interesting and her boyfriend Jonas has quite a good part. I didn't like the mean guy (not sure who he was) but he wore a coat and was with his mob type guys, boy he was cruel and went around beating people up.

Anyone else enjoy it?

no story/connection for audience; not worth your time

[bbriddell · 2/10 · 4 May 2015]

There were a couple of moments when I thought; hey now the story is starting. Brief sparks, then there was stuff that went on. It's like the writer had a paragraph for this film and then bloated the rest out with fluff.

The acting was fine, seemed like there was money put into this. Filming , scenes, locations.

The one thing missing was an actual connecting point for the audience that would have resembled a story worth watching.

I watched in 20 minute increments as nothing was going on in a story sense and I figured at some point it might pick up. After one hour and 26 minutes I jumped forward eight minutes to watch the ending.

If this is the "pilot", then obviously alienating the audience isn't a good way to have future viewers.

And then ?????

[shunter-69 · 2/10 · 23 June 2019]

They might have said before I wasted over two hours of my life that this "thing" doesn't have an ending. Three episodes for a pilot ? Seriously ? No wonder it wasn't taken up by anyone. I think they spent more of the budget on polythene than actors.

Slick production, great cast, left me wanting more of this TV pilot

[richykeith · 9/10 · 8 April 2015]

I sat through all the 3 TV episodes on Netflix in one sitting over Easter. Being a Game of Thrones fan was enough to get me to watch it plus Mr Lopez always does good stuff like Utopia and Misfits. Thought it was beautifully shot and well cast - the story left you wondering a little what really went on - but its a pilot - so you'll either want more of it or not. Hoping they'll make more. Had me hooked. Bit spooky in places. Reminded me a little of blade runner at times, but not that far in the future. I'm always looking for good new stuff on Netflix and this one did the job. I'd watch this again or the next series if they make more. Right....whats next on netflix for me to watch?

A Good Study in "How Not to Make a Horror Movie"

[DareDevilKid · 3/10 · 5 April 2015]

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

One of the most insipid, lackluster, and soporific horror films of all time - yes it's that bad. Right from the buildup, which was haphazardly presented to the progression of the story, which was monotonously dragged on with little or nothing really happening to the supposedly anticipated, big reveal in the climax, which ended up petering out like a damp squib - just nothing went right for this film.

While the cast tires their level best to elevate proceedings, the hackneyed writing by John Harrison and Alex Garcia Lopez's pretentious direction leave absolutely no scope for redemption.

zzZZzzZZzz

[LoboKurg · 4/10 · 5 April 2022]

Leave it to the British to take the paranormal, government conspiracies, and biological outbreaks and then find a way to make them all boring. Visuals and music are all interesting and well done, but fail to hold up this otherwise limp story. Every dialogue feels like it's going nowhere and has a anesthetic effect that leaves you so numb by the time anything interesting does happen, it is incapable of getting a reaction or emotional response out of you.

British Television

[alexvanv · 5/10 · 4 April 2015]

Overall the idea of this show is fantastic. People unknowingly developing supernatural abilities that cause disaster amongst the city, while a detective and journalist try to solve it is great. The only bad thing about this show is it is only 3 episodes in a single season. It is a total tease, the British always do this, they suck at television. That is why the It Crowd is only like four episodes a season. Learn how to do television seasons right you damn British! I mean the minimum for American television shows is at least eight episodes, some shows push for over twenty season which is freaking incredible. The fact that there are only three episodes in this entire first season is downright stupid. Overall I would give the show at least three more stars if they learned how to not tease the audience and at least did eight episodes per season.

A Good Study in "How Not to Begin a Horror Movie"

[RandyEischer · 1/10 · 6 April 2015]

We're introduced to a bad cop who passes out while taking drugs, a pair of drunken twits trying to make out, and finally an interesting character--the daughter of the passed-out cop, who's trying to get ahold of him while talking about the trouble she's going to get in for sneaking out of the house. And then she's killed in the explosion, even before the title comes up.

So we have three duds and one compelling character--one reason to keep watching, in other words--and that reason is taken away less than 90 seconds later. So I lost all interest and stopped watching.

Is this the first show these folks have ever written, because they did a lousy job of trying to draw me into this one.

Don't waste your time

[tiffanyannem · 3/10 · 4 April 2019]

The first two episodes weren't completely terrible so I'll give it 3 stars. This is one of those shows that leaves you guessing at the end. What happened to the other people? What happened to her? What were those things? Don't waste your time. Trust me.

don't kill baby's or pets

[gkauer · 1/10 · 30 May 2015]

@writer: Since I'm a dad these days, I cannot stomach the killing of baby's. so....right after it became apparent that the baby got strangled I turned it off. I don't care that you want to set a mood. be creative and set it another way. The story might be good but I will never know now because this stupid choice.

Stop using the killing of a baby in story telling... It never adds anything except pure disgust! same goes for killing loving and innocent pets. some writers found the tragedy in Bambi apparently amusing and adopted it for since it is an assured way to invoke a strong emotion without any creativity.

Seriously fantastic pilot!

[nitabracken · 10/10 · 21 May 2015]

It is incredibly difficult to find great TV shows that don't follow the boring format that most TV shows are cursed with. Having a 3 part pilot gives a great start to the series. You actually have time to get to know and care about the characters. The acting was wonderful and I enjoyed the plot and dialog. Very interesting and peeked my curiosity within the first few minutes.

I think people could be confused if they did not know this was a pilot and a 2nd season with 10 planned episodes is in the works with Netflix at the helm.

Highly recommend!

Don't even bother reading this review

[imdb-2624 · 1/10 · 19 June 2017]

It is truly an utter waste of time.Writing a full five lines is also a waste of my time. There is not enough to say about it. It is truly an utter waste of time.Writing a full five lines is also a waste of my time. There is not enough to say about it. It is truly an utter waste of time.Writing a full five lines is also a waste of my time. There is not enough to say about it. It is truly an utter waste of time.Writing a full five lines is also a waste of my time. There is not enough to say about it.

New Record

[grooverjamesr · 1/10 · 26 September 2017]

5 minutes, shut it off, WOW Beyond horrible! Continuity, thanks we don't need it, oh that missing chair? Don't need it! The bloody coat? Nahh no bodies on the dissection table, no table in a motel room. God I hate seeing people who don't know what to write. This movie was wasted in the first 3 minutes, That covered the action scene and car chase, alien attack that took place rather than the opening credits.

Boring

[max-dettwiler · 3/10 · 22 March 2020]

Incredibly slow paced and boring. Terrible plot as well.

Horrible

[cezbanbelubo · 1/10 · 1 June 2020]

This movie is very horrible. Very slow. Actors and actress horrible

I think is very cool.

[marianog · 5/10 · 5 April 2019]

The acting is great.!!!! Also I keep thinking of the poor art dep. People wraping buildings facades for close ups!!! Hey netflix make a series out of it!!! And keep the talent.

Is very slow

[kcbibuskauna · 1/10 · 29 March 2020]

Good to sleep this movie is very boring and desinteresting

How To Sell A TV Show to Netflix!

[al-01077 · 8/10 · 3 April 2015]

I've not seen the movie but I did check out the 3 part pilot on Netflix. Seems like the same project? I didn't realize Netflix were backing pilots but I think this is a really exciting step if they are. This show has solid foundations for a pretty great ongoing TV show and feels fresh coming out of the UK. I read the director has a background on Utopia and Misfits which makes more sense of this project's visual style and themes. I also read an article on indiewire 'How To Sell A TV Show to Netflix" http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-to-sell-a-TV-show-to-netflix- 20150401 and was pretty blown away about the journey that this took. It was a movie, and an extended TV pilot at the same time. That's pretty ballsy. I imagine the TV show plays better than the movie - there isn't really one central character you can get on board with in the way that you need to in a movie - but there is certainly a lot here to merit this project and make me want to see more. I think there is a lot of promise here for the future. A great looking, seedy, future-city, and a pretty amazing quarantine zone top my favorite things about this so far.