96 Souls (2016)

The Worst Film Ever

One of my all time favorites.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Extraordinary storytelling and writing for this low-budget feature film. Science meets God when a doctor discovers a chemical formula that allows the human eye to see the essence of energy. The story makes a play for the advancement of psychoactive drugs. The "see smells" and 96 souls scenes are well worth the wait. The protagonist Dr. Jack Surtree "has it all" on the surface, yet his personal life is falling apart. He is facing dwindling research funding, an estranged wife, mother in a nursing home and loyal dog passing away. It seems Dr. Surtree's entire life has been devoted to controlled deductive reasoning with methodical outcomes, and he has hit a wall. Grinnell Morris is an excellent actor in this role, especially in such scenes where he convincingly says a sweet goodbye to his dying dog. He must venture into the unknown to find solutions. With the aid of his new formula and a little help from his friends (a minister, a homeless schizophrenic, and an East Indian doctor) he succeeds in finding a humanitarian medical cure for society. The characters expand on these ideas with heart-felt revelations, delivered by strong actors. I admit to tearing up on several occasions. "When you are free, I am free; we can't escape the effect we have on each other in the larger societal consciousness."

This film was horrific. The dialogue was stiff and empty, the plot was nonsensical, and it lacked even a single "Oh, cool!" moment. Even though I watched this on Netflix, I mourn the wasted bandwidth and urge you not to make the same mistake I did. My son and I tried hard to mock it a la Mystery Science Theater 3000, and even though we're pretty good at that, even our magnificent milieu of mockery was unable to find any fertile ground in this sad excuse of a film.

96 SOULS is an indie thriller with science fiction touches. The film's protagonist lead (a Sharlto Copley lookalike) has a laboratory accident, but instead of turning into a giant green monster with anger issues, he has the power to see inside people's heads and thus their real intentions. Yeah. It's not a very exciting concept for a movie, and perhaps would have worked better as a novel. In any case, this film is as dull as can be, with very little effort or vitality to make it of interest.

96 Souls…yes..what about it? Its starts out with all the right moves and hooks…builds interest..and then quickly it degenerates into trash logic. It has nothing to save it. No eagerness of the actors, no fresh look appeal, nothing. The script writer ran away for coffee and never came back, so they kind of handed it to whoever came back to finish it. I feel if the rating goes below a certain level, the makers should be penalized for wasting people's time. It was a criminal waste of time.