Hidden Reserves (2016) User Reviews

Great premise, but meh

[bazookajoeftw · 6/10 · 11 April 2017]

Wonderful premise, wonderful set design, yet it's a truly mediocre film. I hate to write this, because there are not a lot of sci-fi films coming out of Germany, Austria or Switzerland. The funding institutions are kinda conservative here, and sci-fi is usually a red flag. And every now and then they dare giving money to a sci-fi project, and it really fails. Whyyyy?????? WHYYY???????? I give this one 6 stars, just because I can't make myself give it 5.

I'm not convinced either

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 2 February 2018]

"Stille Reserven" or "Hidden Reserves" is a German 90-minute movie released for the big screen back in 2016, so not too old actually, maybe depending on when you read this review. Writer and director is Valentin Hitz and after a break of no less than 13 years, this is his most recent filmmaking effort and also his most famous at this point. This may have to do weíth the sci-fi genre for sure that still attracts audiences big time, even if it is not a very famous film by any means. But yeah this genre and German film is something that almost never works well together and sadly this film is not an exception there. Sure you won't see any big spectacular space ships here, but you don't need them either if you deliver in other areas. However, the suspense and atmosphere component here are not good enough either to make up for flaws in story telling. I would say that the best thing about this film is not the strange recurring insurance reference, but the lead performance by Clemens Schick and I like him and I am kinda happy for him that he seems to be having a breakthrough on an international level too in Hollywood, even if those films he appears in are not top of the crop sadly in terms of critical reception. So yes I am biased here, but I think he elevates the mediocre material sometimes too in this one and it would have been a worse film without him. Not that it is a good film with him. Most of the characters feel really one-dimensional, which may be a mix of sub-par writing and acting, but there really is not a single component that stands out positively. There is not one huge failure in it either, so the film is nothing that hits rock-bottom and maybe some of the biggest sci-fi fans will even enjoy it, but for me it didn't do too much. My suggestion is to skip the watch here and watch something else instead.

Science Fiction without what it's all about

[qeter · 2/10 · 22 October 2016]

Seen at the Viennale 2016: It is always creepy to watch a SciFi or something similar made in Middle Europe. These countries are based on a conservative history and culture. And I guess, if filmmakers in these countries try SciFi, they do very often have no progressive clue about a possible future and quickly loose their interests to develop characters acting along plots that dig deeper into human longings and their hopes and fears apart from the usual (love, money, power, morality mixed together into endless cascades of possibilities to stay in the movie business). Movies projecting our world of today into one of our possible futures need ideas that go beyond the fantasy of a bored mind of a saturated script writer. In Stille Reserven only one fragment of our contemporary live is projected into the unknown future (to be allowed to die). Everything else remains as it is today. And to look at so few content (not) supported by low key acting for one-and-a-half hours is quite boring. Not a single interesting thought and it was quite annoying to have to sit this one trough. Nobody will feel anything regarding the fate of the characters in this movie. Maybe it's only bad luck, but there are so many US SciFi-movies out there that are dealing these topics so much deeper and better.

A good story told well

[ncoleby · 8/10 · 12 May 2020]

Maybe it's because I am German, that this hit me more than some others. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. The whole atmosphere is kind of a dark office style. 60s mixed with late 2020s and a bit of 40s. The plot isn't too deep but it is very concerning. Basically people's bodies have to work off their debts by working when dead. Either by having information extracted, as incubation machines or as organ donors. Intertwined is a weird love story with two strange but likeable characters. That's it. However, even the simplest story can be told in a very intriguing way. This is one of them. Never loud, no shocks, no tricks to keep people artificially interested. You actually have to listen and concentrate and really get immersed. Best in the dark, wrapped in a blanket with no distraction. For those that can do that, you are in for a really good 90 min.

I wasn't bored once. If the plot thins, which it really doesn't, you can look at the background and the details. The gloominess and how people are trying to find happiness in simpler things. I am normally quite unemotional but this actually made me feel sad at the end.

Don't watch it if you want a boom boom, whaaaaa, clicky clacky, bang bang sci-fi with aliens and dinosaurs. You won't like it. For everyone else, I recommend this.