Paradox Alice (2012)

Sadly Over-hyped

Powerful

Excellent but underrated film

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.

Paradox Alice (Originally titled The Serpent, The Prophet And The Angel) is a very unusual scifi effort.It tells the story of a world stricken with a lack of clean drinking water to an extent where wars are breaking out globally because of it. A ship manned by 4 people is on a desperate mission to acquire water from space and are on their way back. On route however (No spoilers here) a very unusual event transpires that changes everything and possibly the entire fate of humanity.The "Thing" in question is very original and quite well thought through, sadly it makes for some very uncomfortable viewing.Now recently I was debating a very bizzare point in the movie industry. According to statistics around 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, so why is it that almost everytime A Christian is shown in a movie they are a dangerous, unhinged and/or "Wacky"? You'd think that wouldn't be the case.This movie is a perfect example. We have a devout Christian, a young man who begins obnoxious and escalates to highly dangerous and arguably the movies antagonist. He even quotes Leviticus, part of which is "'Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death". Now this frustrates me because people instantly slate the Quran claiming its full statements that tell it's followers to be violent and kill unbelievers while wearing lead blinkers that prevent them from acknowledging that the bible does as well.I've gone off on a tangent, my apologies. Bottom line is religious antagonists are a double edged blade. They are bad guys you want to see defeated but at the same time are far too relatable as you don't need to go far to find one in the real world.Paradox Alice has some great ideas but too much is badly flawed. Credit to the cast, credit to the filmmakers but it's one of those films that really gets under your skin more than was intended.The Good:Some great ideasLooks goodHas a certain charm to itDetestable antagonistThe Bad:That Christian kid needed dropkicking into space from the outsetPremise has some weirdly uncomfortable momentsFinale was a let downThings I Learnt From This Movie:Christian logic "If I'm a good person then God will protect me" also Christian logic "The entire earth has been destroyed and everyone is dead, god has a plan"I don't understand why stunt boobs are a thing

Other reviewers seem quite confused, seeing this as an advertisement for Christianity. The only Christian in the film is mentally deranged. Not a good advertisement, I'd say. This film is a romantic fairy tale. I found the romance quite powerful, due to the amazing reason for it's existence. I can see, that the film may seem threatening to men, who are homophobic, or religiously dogmatic. I thought, that the acting was fine. The setting/special effects were adequate, as they aren't really the focus of the film. The only part, which I found unfortunate was the ending, which was somewhat incomprehensible, but this only lasted for a minute or two of the running time. I appreciated the nudity/sexuality, as it was realistic and not gratuitous. This is an adult film with very interesting ideas.

Paradox Alice one of the deepest movies I've seen, and the writing is excellent. It reminds me of "No Exit" the Existential literary work of Jean-Paul Sartre. The characters are complex depiction of religious zealotry in a high-tech future is brilliant.The movie is written and produced by some people who work in Hollywood who decided to get together and just do a movie on their own. It's atypical of Hollywood cookie-cutter formulatic story lines. This movie isn't for everyone. The themes are mature, but well-done in an apocalyptic setting. While it's not chock full of exploding aliens and other such effects, the cinematics are strong and the writing really makes this movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

I came across this "movie" on XBox Live for digital rental and from reading the description I thought it would be a nice escape in a SciFi world. Let me tell you I was horribly wrong. This film is extremely difficult to watch from beginning to end.Let me start by saying that I keep an open mind when it comes to independent films and I can look past monetary constraints, but the atmosphere from the get-go is a letdown. I will give praise to the lighting inside the protagonists' ship, it is very suitable for the setting, however the ship itself is a real disappointment. I understand that this film takes place in the near future, but there is no reason characters should be using iPads that are dated even by todays standards. The props throughout this "futuristic" setting just don't work. I just couldn't help but feel like the characters were running through someone's poorly decorated house being used as the set. It's just not convincing.Now that we have that out of the way, let's discuss the acting in the film. It's atrocious. There simply isn't any other way to describe it. It's absolutely atrocious. I just felt absolutely no connection with the characters whatsoever. The acting just felt very forced and didn't flow. Some of the mannerisms are extremely over-exxagerated at times that just destroyed any chance of immersion of the audience into this film.Next, let's discuss the plot of this movie. After the end of this thing, I truly didn't know whether the writer hates women or loves them a little too much. What I mean by this is the way the main character is treated through this film just seemed like it could be a view of an agenda the writer has against women. This woman is later raped in the film "for the benefit of the human race". Let me tell you, it was truly difficult to sit there and watch this 20-something girl raped(who ends up pregnant). It was just in poor taste. However, at the same time I can't help but feel like this writer is trying to play out some kind personal fantasy throughout the movie. The main protagonist originally is a male, but suddenly and mysteriously becomes a woman. The film then focuses on this character dealing with his new womanhood and his religious fanatic of a Lieutenant trying to get her pants because it's god's will. Remember the rape scene I mentioned earlier? Do the math. What really confuses me about this all is the protagonist goes from being a confident, tom-boyish newly transformed woman to a crying, helpless, girly-girl, that is suddenly madly in lover with her life-long friend, in no time at all. It just doesn't add up. I really thought I was watching the writer's personal, disgusting(rape) fetish come to life in this film. The whole way the film played out just made me feel a mix of pure confusion and frankly, awkward.Finally, there may or may not be a religious agenda in this film. I personally don't know if this purely for the sake of the plot or if it is the writer trying to push a religious agenda to the audience. I will admit that it seems like the latter several times throughout the movie. "Paradox Alice" is by far one of the worst and backwards films I have endured in years.The whole thing is just a mess from beginning to end and I can safely say you are better off spending your evenings enjoying a much more intelligent film or even just having a nice stare with the wall. This film truly is an insult in the independent film industry.2/10