Set in Cambodia, the good things about this movie are the performances from the young actors, and the setting. There is an attentiveness to the contrast between the glittering parts of the city and the more traditional and less tidy areas where the story mostly takes place. You can feel the loss of the past, and see the environmental degradation, without getting in too deep to themes of economic inequality. The core of the story is the karma wheel, but it's sadly grafted to a high tech and ultimately tedious and pedestrian reboot of the run away AI theme. It's watchable, with the first half better than the second. The dialogue turns wooden towards the end. The performances and some quite good scenes of ordinary streets, temples and the countryside save the film from its pretentious tech bits.
5 Reviews
surprisingly good...
ops-525358 December 2022
In the first half, but botches itself into the bin of average scifi-genre movies made on a 3rd world country film budget. Remember what i said in the start, its surprising me with good child acting and quite some well done cgis, that lands you in the near future pnom phen, cambodia...
its a story about a boy that searches, with the help of a selfadvocated detective girl, to find the secrets behind his unbelievably vivid dreams. They use all means available to track the truth, not only hypertech but also religious forces of bhudism...
allthough a fascinating world of scifi, the makers seems to forget the droneactivity in the second half, and also makes the goal of the plot become quite murky and oblivious, therefore just a six stars from the grumpy old man...
but still its a good representative on the sci-fi market, so therefore a recommend.
its a story about a boy that searches, with the help of a selfadvocated detective girl, to find the secrets behind his unbelievably vivid dreams. They use all means available to track the truth, not only hypertech but also religious forces of bhudism...
allthough a fascinating world of scifi, the makers seems to forget the droneactivity in the second half, and also makes the goal of the plot become quite murky and oblivious, therefore just a six stars from the grumpy old man...
but still its a good representative on the sci-fi market, so therefore a recommend.
Beautiful and important film
SynechdocheNewJersey8 October 2023
In a culture where criticism of spiritual leaders is either muted or non-existent, stories like this need to be told. The villain in this film is prevalent in so many communities in Cambodia and other neighboring countries.
The cinematography was top tier and the contrast between rich and poor could not have been done better. In parts of the film where the plot slowed, the cinematography kept me interested.
Getting good performances from child actors is rare, but you will not find better than this movie. The tag-along friends did some of the best child acting I have seen from any movie. Very natural performance.
I really enjoyed this film and was not expecting such a high caliber production.
The cinematography was top tier and the contrast between rich and poor could not have been done better. In parts of the film where the plot slowed, the cinematography kept me interested.
Getting good performances from child actors is rare, but you will not find better than this movie. The tag-along friends did some of the best child acting I have seen from any movie. Very natural performance.
I really enjoyed this film and was not expecting such a high caliber production.
Cyberpunk and Buddhist tradition/lore? Yes!
skoshtolsen17 February 2023
The story and acting performances (as well as solid CGI - especially considering the slimmer budget) take a fairly original form by blending its cyberpunk setting and themes with regional religious lore.
Deserves two viewings minimum to catch things you might not have on the first viewing. Overall it is an enjoyable, humorous, and emotionally impactful film with some mystery and intrigue.
The story does well to highlight social injustices commonly depicted in sci-fi and cyberpunk, but respects you enough to not preach too much.
Normally, the setting of a movie does not strike me, but it is refreshing to see a cyberpunk film like this set in SE Asia that doesn't have to rely on massive action set pieces or solving problems with violence (not that there's anything wrong with cool action movies).
The final act gets a little "busy", but a second viewing should help it all click together for the viewer.
As we (the audience) keep clamoring for original stories and concepts, writers like Wachtel seem to agree and has answered that thirst with this unique movie.
Deserves two viewings minimum to catch things you might not have on the first viewing. Overall it is an enjoyable, humorous, and emotionally impactful film with some mystery and intrigue.
The story does well to highlight social injustices commonly depicted in sci-fi and cyberpunk, but respects you enough to not preach too much.
Normally, the setting of a movie does not strike me, but it is refreshing to see a cyberpunk film like this set in SE Asia that doesn't have to rely on massive action set pieces or solving problems with violence (not that there's anything wrong with cool action movies).
The final act gets a little "busy", but a second viewing should help it all click together for the viewer.
As we (the audience) keep clamoring for original stories and concepts, writers like Wachtel seem to agree and has answered that thirst with this unique movie.
The Ariya Buddhist Always Support This Kind of Movie
toramaviii29 October 2023
Meditation gives people chance of the best value experience and the best hapiness. People who understood "How Karma work" after attained the both meditation and done the insight meditation, will know how to be happy forever. We can't avoid the past Karma but we could understand How it work by Jhana-Meditation and past-lives-recollection-supernatural-skill. The relativity of the tiniest and fastest arising and vianshing trillion time per second Nama and Rupa which originated by Karma, will let the practitioners understand "How lives and repirth work" then the way to get out of rebirth will disclose to them.
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