Mia: A Rapture 2.0 Production Review 21/06/18
Glasgow-based filmmaker Gary J Hewitt’s new sci-fi short film Mia: A Rapture 2.0 Production opens beautifully, with flowers and a smiling woman in an idyllic garden. Evoking Hillcoat’s The Road, Mia settles into its beige, post-apocalyptic setting quickly and confidently. The film is the story of an eponymous sex ‘robot,’ (though she dislikes the term) as she searches for a new companion in a decrepit wasteland (Glasgow - unchanged except for the lack of its usual denizens). It is an ambitious, ideas-y film, and needs commended for being so. Likewise, it is technically flawless and Hewitt is wise to keep its setting and story contained enough for the resources he has available.
Our lead performers carry the emotional weight of the story very well, and this is where the strength of the film lies: Tony MacDonald strikes a chord as a grieving widower, and Elle Watson’s performance as Mia is a subtle exercise in injecting humanity gradually into a character that does the same thing. The small changes in facial expression and body language are pitch-perfect, keeping her character on the verge of deserving our empathy, while remaining, to a degree, unreadable.
The film is not perfect, of course, as few are. Its faults are few, but interesting all the same. We are given plenty of exposition about the apocalypse and our two characters, which on occasion can seem forced or awkward. The problem, of course, is that with a 20-minute runtime, it becomes a difficult balancing act of world-building vs emotional story-building and to his credit, Hewitt’s direction never falters in developing the latter, but the film feels over-full with dialogue when perhaps we could have gleaned enough information visually, given the chance. Hewitt naturally loves his story, is deeply interested in the world he has created, and in wanting us to share his passion (an encouraging, commendable desire to have) we’re occasionally given too much too clearly. The irony of denouncing clear filmmaking is not lost on me, and this is more personal taste than objective analysis.
I wonder, perhaps, if the sheer number of ideas and issues floating around in the film has something to do with this. Its ambitions are high, like a distilled episode of Black Mirror, and it can feel sometimes like the ideas are explored only superficially. Many of these ideas fit well into feature length cinema, and the conversation between our two characters occasionally harks to Ex Machina in its style; technically inclined yet helping us empathise with Mia further. Their conversation over the dinner table was especially reminiscent.
These are mere gripes, and are simply examples of Hewitt’s ambition, which hopefully takes him to feature length territory soon, to give these wonderful ideas and worlds more room to breathe.
Our lead performers carry the emotional weight of the story very well, and this is where the strength of the film lies: Tony MacDonald strikes a chord as a grieving widower, and Elle Watson’s performance as Mia is a subtle exercise in injecting humanity gradually into a character that does the same thing. The small changes in facial expression and body language are pitch-perfect, keeping her character on the verge of deserving our empathy, while remaining, to a degree, unreadable.
The film is not perfect, of course, as few are. Its faults are few, but interesting all the same. We are given plenty of exposition about the apocalypse and our two characters, which on occasion can seem forced or awkward. The problem, of course, is that with a 20-minute runtime, it becomes a difficult balancing act of world-building vs emotional story-building and to his credit, Hewitt’s direction never falters in developing the latter, but the film feels over-full with dialogue when perhaps we could have gleaned enough information visually, given the chance. Hewitt naturally loves his story, is deeply interested in the world he has created, and in wanting us to share his passion (an encouraging, commendable desire to have) we’re occasionally given too much too clearly. The irony of denouncing clear filmmaking is not lost on me, and this is more personal taste than objective analysis.
I wonder, perhaps, if the sheer number of ideas and issues floating around in the film has something to do with this. Its ambitions are high, like a distilled episode of Black Mirror, and it can feel sometimes like the ideas are explored only superficially. Many of these ideas fit well into feature length cinema, and the conversation between our two characters occasionally harks to Ex Machina in its style; technically inclined yet helping us empathise with Mia further. Their conversation over the dinner table was especially reminiscent.
These are mere gripes, and are simply examples of Hewitt’s ambition, which hopefully takes him to feature length territory soon, to give these wonderful ideas and worlds more room to breathe.
Standout in the film is a scene in which the eponymous product/character stands beneath the twirling blades of a windmill, a great hulking beast of man-made power. It is hauntingly beautiful, and a wonderful example of the succinct, visual storytelling that Hewitt is capable of. The power-dynamics at play in the film are complex and vary in a chaotic, unpredictable way, but it is unquestioningly Mia that prevails through all of it, an independent product whose ambitions have grown by the finale. Likewise, it feels to me, have Hewitt’s.
By Jack Buchanan
•Mia: A Rapture 2.0 Production is currently touring festivals. It’s production page can be found here on IMDB, and here on Facebook.
Filmosophy is, and always will be, an independent reviewer. If you would like us to review your film, please contact us via email, our Contact Us page, or on social media here and here.
By Jack Buchanan
•Mia: A Rapture 2.0 Production is currently touring festivals. It’s production page can be found here on IMDB, and here on Facebook.
Filmosophy is, and always will be, an independent reviewer. If you would like us to review your film, please contact us via email, our Contact Us page, or on social media here and here.
