Narcopolis – Movie Review

by | Sep 29, 2015 | Movie Reviews, Reviews | 0 comments

Narcopolis-MovieNarcopolis
Written & Directed by Justin Trefgarne
Starring: Elliot Cowan, Elodie Yung, Jonathan Pryce
October 2, 2015
Reviewed by Jess Landry

In the not too distant future, all recreational drugs are legal. Frank Grieves (addicted-cop-turned-straight-edge-cop-trying-to-turn-his-life-around-and-reconcile-with-his-family) is a Dreck, a narcotics police officer whose main task is to take down dealers selling unlicensed drugs in the black market while the big pharmaceutical companies (particularly one called Ambro) control the recreational drugs by licensing them and making some serious dollars distributing them.

Problem is, there’s this new, unlicensed super-drug that’s burning people’s faces off. Frank, who’s struggling to make amends with his wife and young son, becomes entangled in a conspiracy after finding the crispy remains of an unlucky user while on patrol. As he takes on the case, Frank discovers that this new super-drug goes much deeper than he originally thought, and it may not be only his life on the line, but the life of his family as well.

There must be a ‘Creating Futuristic, Dystopian Societies in Film’ handbook making its rounds in the cinematic universe. There’s a certain look, a certain feel that seems to pop up in the wide world of the sci-fi-noir-thriller genre – it’s the cinematography of dark spaces, muted yellows and electric blues. It’s the EDM music that assaults your ears while (as the kids say) the bass drops. It’s the high-tech gizmos and gadgets that everyone seems to have, and the less-is-more approach to visual effects.

Narcopolis follows these points to a T, though the latter is most likely due to the 1 million pound budget, which is nothing by today’s standards. Kudos to the filmmaker, Justin Trefgarne, for creating the ambitious film with that total (though I’m guessing a good chunk may have been spent renting the BMW 8 series for the shoot), however the final product does suffer slightly from lack of funds. There are blips of futuristic gizmos, like a mobile calling system that allows users to speak through video chat (Skype?), a digital watch with many functions (Apple Watch?) and a neat-o looking drug injector that’s reminiscent of the Matrix, but aside from that, there’s not much overly futuristic in terms of set pieces, the environment or the gadgets.

Think of Narcopolis as a low-budget, no gunplay, Christian Bale-less Equilibrium. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s not entirely unenjoyable either. It’s slick, gritty, and not a bad way to kill an hour and a half.

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