Simple Creature (2/5)

Simple Creature has a fascinating story but ultimately doesn’t live up to its potential. Still, the slow-burn and concept work on some level.

If the haircut fits…

When a grown woman goes to a party holding hands with another grown woman, and they continue to touch and hug each other, it would usually mean more than friendship. I mean, they’re not teenagers craving safety or being touchy-feely with one another.

Or to put it differently; If a man and woman acted this way, you would assume they were romantically involved.

However, it would’ve been pretty damn cool to go with this. Instead of having her hook up with a young man, who plans on becoming a priest. I mean, really, you could’ve easily gone down the same road and same issues with a same-sex relationship.

In any case, yeah, I’m obviously a little bitter, since I feel duped. I went from thinking this little indie sci-fi movie would give us something new, and instead it went down the usual road.

And unfortunately, it also goes down some of the more stereotypical roads. Father and child having had no real relationship, despite having had to rely on one another. And then they find each other (sort of) in the midst of a new tragedy.

Honestly, even though some of these elements did work, it just became too much. It was trope upon trope until finally, you just figured; What would usually happen now? And then you probably knew what would be next.

The concept does work in Simple Creature

Simple Creature does have several things going for it. Especially, the concept itself.

Working on improving human beings via biotech is something, I find fascinating. Both in terms of helping people (in the real world), but also in the sci-fi sense where it’s mostly about improving on people.

I just feel like the script needed more work. Or the executing needed to be tighter. The movie felt too long and many elements were forced. And this combined with a slow-burner pace, does not a good movie make!

New talent still in the rough

Carollani Sandberg stars in Simple Creature and she worked for me in just about every way. Well, except for the fact that it would’ve been awesome if they’d dared go down the LGBTQ road.

Also, they would’ve had perfect access to both sci-fi and LGBT film festivals. So that’s one Hell of a missed opportunity.

In any case, I look forward to seeing her in more [better] roles in the future. She seems to have a lot more to offer than what we see in Simple Creature.

Andrew Finnigan wrote and directed Simple Creature and I have no doubt he can do a lot better. That’s not to put down his work on this movie, but rather to acknowledge the talent I feel is there!

Simple Creature is out on DVD and VOD July 25th, 2017.

Details

Director: Andrew Finnegan
Writer: Andrew Finnegan
Cast: Carollani Sandberg, D’Angelo Madili, Russell Hodgkinson, Alycia Delmore, Tony Doupé and Hans Altwies

Plot

Techie college student, Em (Carollani Sandberg) heads home for holiday break, blissfully thinking about her new boyfriend is on the way. However, her life is put on hold when the bus she is taking crashes, nearly killing her. Em’s father, Roy (Tony Doupe) is grief stricken. He is also the head of an advanced genetics, nanotech, and robotics lab. Here, he is able to bring her back to normal, with additional technology-enhanced abilities. While Em struggles to find her humanity after being upgraded, Roy’s lab struggles to control their most successful experiment.