‘Lapsis’ Paints a Picture of a Realistic but Grim Future

Ulises Duenas

 

Near future dystopias are becoming a more common setting in fiction these days. It could be because the news headlines, in reality, are becoming more and more absurd, and it’s not that farfetched compared with what we’ve seen in movies and TV. Either way, the cold grip of corporate America is something that many can empathize with today, so it makes sense that movies like Lapsis are becoming more common.

 

When a New Yorker named Ray is struggling to come up with quick cash to pay for his brother’s treatment, he turns to a lucrative new trend in the gig economy, cabling. The basic idea is that a huge company that has gotten into quantum computing pays individuals to hike around various stretches of land across the country and connect cables to giant magnetic terminals to expand their quantum network.

 

Ray is the kind of everyman who takes some of these complicated ideas and makes you realize that it’s not really about the technology as much as its effect on people. At its core, Lapsis is a movie about common people navigating a world that is becoming stranger as the gap between those with and those without widens -- leaving people like Ray behind.

 

 

For the first half of its nearly two-hour runtime, you’ll probably wonder where exactly the plot is headed. The story of Ray taking on a cabling job to support his brother is good enough to get things rolling and the mysteries that unfold during Ray’s first hike are interesting, but I was waiting for something to happen that would really hook me.

 

While director Noah Hutton does a great job of illustrating the world he’s created through small scenes that show you how disingenuous the cabling company is and how desperate people are to make some extra cash, the film is still lacking. On one hand, Hutton replicates the dialogue and actions of human beings quite well. On the other, he does it so well that it becomes dull. The whole movie feels like a pilot to the miniseries. You see the first part to introduce you to the world and characters. and once the credits start rolling, you load up the next episode where all the meat is, but that’s not what this is.

 

 

Lapsis  is an interesting movie, in which the mysteries and drama that unfold are all you see, whereas most writers would use that as a jumping-off point for something bigger. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but by the end, I was hungry for more and had to leave the rest up to my imagination.

 

Every character acted well, from the main characters to one-scene players. The story is interesting enough to keep you engaged, but will likely not deliver the satisfying storyline you are seeking. In the end, it might be for the best. Noah had a clear vision for what he wanted this movie to be and instead of trying to do something bigger, he keeps it grounded and to the point.

 

Author Bio:

Ulises Duenas is a contributing writer at Highbrow Magazine.

 

For Highbrow Magazine

 

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