Paradise (Netflix, 2023)
Paradise is a terrific German science fiction thriller that will most likely appeal to people who liked the successful (and also German) sci-fi series Dark.
It’s a prime example of a high concept film: in the not too distant future you can trade years of your life for money, so your life will be shorter but (at least theoretically) sweeter.
Part of your time on earth will be transferred over to someone else, usually someone who is already rich, but who wants to live longer to enjoy it more.
How this process works is not really explained in any great detail - well, it involves a dna-match - but soon the anti-capitalist point of the movie becomes clear: poor people will enjoy a shorter lifespan to provide for their families, while the rich get to live forever.
The sci-fi set-up is reminiscent of the work of legendary author Philip K. Dick, whose stories were turned into movies like Total Recall and Blade Runner. And which is employed for maximum effect by its creators, director Boris Kunz and writers Simon Amberger and Peter Kocyla.
The story itself concerns Max (Kostja Ullmann, very good as usual) who works for the Aeon biotech company that convinces poor people to sell their lives away.
It doesn’t really bother him until his wife Elena (Marlene Tanzcik) has to trade forty years of her own life when the insurance she took out won’t cover for a fire in their new dream house.
Suddenly confronted by the harsh reality of what his own actions mean to real people, Max is determined to get those forty years back so that he and Elena get to spend their happy ever after together.
In doing so he has to face off with ihis own boss, Sophie (Iris Berben), who is the CEO of Aeon. It’s the start of a thrilling adventure that raises all sorts of moral questions, but is also able to provide the viewer with some much needed and exhilarating escapism.
Storywise, this is one of those movies where you don’t wanna know too much about the twists and turns ahead, to keep the element of surprise Visually, it uses a lot of moody colors, that fit well in with the story. And the ending is not what I expected at all. So just watch it for yourself.