SURGE directed by Aniel Karia (United Kingdom , 2020)
If there were an acting class devoted to madness studies then ‘Surge’ would be required viewing.
For ‘madness’ read ‘mental health issues’ although where one ends and the other begins is very much the moot point here.
What this debut feature film does show is how a cocktail of loneliness, alienation and a loss of hope can have devastating effects.
Director Aneil Karia has gone on record to say that he didn’t set out to make a social commentary. However, many, I include myself among them, will see it and wonder why no-one was looking out for Joseph, played with spectacular authenticity by Ben Whishaw.
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Some blatherations* on the novels and movie adaptations of Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’ and ‘Doctor Sleep’.
Italian politician, journalist and all round trouble maker Giuseppe Mazzini once told Friedrich Nietzsche to “ban compromise”. This is the kind of reckless advice any libertarian, free-thinker is likely to lap up and act upon but it didn’t do Nietzche much good.
If you have a good story, you don’t need elaborate sets or A-list actors. This is probably why most Science Fiction works better in books or graphic novels than in big budget movies. These two movies illustrate this point perfectly.
