Working off a tip detective Em Trochinowska (Andrea Mohylová) hunts down a suspected terrorist who commits suicide once corned. Said terrorist is a member of the ‘Rivers of Life’ group who don’t believe in restoration of life, stating that its unnatural.
The suicide has to be investigated so Europol take over in the form of Agent Mansfield (Václav Neuzil) whose smarmy attitude rubs Em up the wrong way. And after the ‘death’ of a prominent member of the institute becomes more suspicious. For Em her investigation starts to become tangled up with the privatisation of the institute. More characters and motives are introduced complicating matters for cast and viewers.
Director Robert Hloz and co-writers Tomislav Cecka and Zdenek Jecelin have conceived a tightly written, complex story that delves into the competing mindsets of private business against public service as well as the quite clear ethical issues of bringing people back to life.
The film moves at a brisk pace with the plot moving along quite nicely, a few action sequences lobbed in for good measure. But this is a talky film and at times quite dense though never incoherent.
Its slickly produced, with plenty gadgets and tech so the film has the look of the not too distant future and the developments are believable, up to a point.
The acting is strait laced; there’s barely a smile from anyone. This is ultra-serious stuff and to be fair there are some pretty big themes here up for discussion. That said the thriller tropes are fairly familiar with good guys, bad guys, non-conformist communes, semi-rogue cops and scientists pro and against the system.
The cast spend a lot of time talking and just as much running about between locations ranging from gleaming glass and steel structures to hippy communes. This means the film flows, with nifty editing, and doesn’t drag but there’s still a nagging thought that it may a bit too long.
Restore Point will be available on digital from 1 April 2024.
