In a future where people can donate their lifetime to others, Paradise follows a man whose wife is forced to give up 40 years of her life. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
In the near future, Aeon, a biotech company, has found a way for people to donate their lifetime to those whose DNA is compatible with theirs. For every year that people donate, they are compensated generously.
This system only benefits the rich. While they pay and keep getting younger, the poor donate their lifetimes and die early. An organization called the Adam Group is determined to put a stop to Aeon’s time donation program, even if that means using violent methods.
Max Toma, a donation manager at Aeon, is good at convincing people to donate their lifetimes. He receives the award of the employee of the year before his and his wife’s lives change completely when their apartment burns to the ground.
As they are unable to pay the mortgage that they owe the bank, it claims collateral. Max finds out that Elena, his wife, had put 40 years of her life as collateral. Due to this, 40 years of Elena’s life are taken away from her without her consent.
Now that Elena is no longer young, she decides to leave Max. However, Max is not ready to accept this fate. Since his wife has become the victim of the system he benefited from, he is ready to go against powerful people to get back the years that were stolen from Elena.
Performances
Kostja Ullmann plays the character of Max, a man who is desperate to save his wife, with such ease that he convinces the audience of his love for Elena. At the same time, Ullmann depicts Max’s denial of truth and his eventual acceptance with the complexity that his character needed.
The performances by the whole cast are praiseworthy, but Corinna Kirchhoff’s performance is the most impressive of all. Kirchhoff’s portrayal of an older Elena has a lot of depth. She depicts Elena’s loss in a way that moves the audience.
Although Marlene Tanczik, as younger Elena, does not get much screen time, she still gives an adequate performance. Lastly, Lorna Ishema and Numan Acar, as Kaya and Nowak, not only play their parts well, but they also manage to leave an impression, thanks to their onscreen chemistry.
Positives
The world-building in the film is not detailed, but it is still impressive. It is easy to believe that the world depicted is real when the film actually thinks about the consequences of time donation. For instance, the film shows that the climate crisis has been brought under control, as the rich now live longer and want a better future.
To keep it realistic, the film’s reality does not appear to be much different from ours, yet the film manages to make it unrecognizable. There is a prevailing sense of detachment that makes the world in the film feel rather than seem different from our own.
The plot of the film keeps the audience guessing Elena’s decision. The question of whether Elena gets back the years stolen from her will make the audience stay till the end.
The film highlights the fact that, more often than not, scientific advancements, like the ability to regain one’s youth, only benefit the rich. Additionally, the eventual moral dilemma, regarding children paying for their parents’ sins, tests the characters and the audience alike.
Negatives
Max and Elena must get Elena’s stolen years back before it is too late. However, the film lacks a sense of urgency as well as the thrill that would have kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
The writing fails to make Sophie Theissen, the CEO of Aeon, an antagonist to be feared. Perhaps the film would have been more exciting if the antagonist was not as harmless and predictable as Sophie.
Max’s character development is quite predictable. From the very beginning, one can tell how he is going to change as a person, as this has been done in several other films and shows before. In the end, the character ends up in the same place as so many other protagonists.
At times, the film’s tone is almost didactic. The sequence in which the leader of the Adam Group asks Elena to make a choice serves no other purpose than to give the audience a lesson, which is very unnecessary, as they can understand it on their own while watching the film.
Verdict
Paradise is a film with an intriguing premise and great performances. Unfortunately, it lacks the thrill as well as the kind of antagonist that would have made it exciting. It does have a few surprises in store for the audience, but they are not enough to make it stand apart from other similar films.
Paradise
Director: Boris Kunz
Date Created: 2023-07-27 19:51
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Also Read: Paradise (2023) summary and ending explained