I decided to watch this film, on a wet and windy day. Much as i tried it was very difficult to hear the dialogue, and this common problem persists with many films, on offer on film packages ( sky movies etc ). What makes this problem so frustrating, is that numbers of films are allowed to be made with this handicap. I gave up after 20 minutes, as it looked interesting. H B O or Home Box Office create wonderful drama programmes, and unfortunate mugs like me, suffer from great expectations, all because we believe that being able to hear the spoken word.should be possible Rating ....4

Drugs and time travel - that's like ham and eggs right? Can't have one without the other correct? a perfect marriageTrue but after watching this mess, even a liter of black coffee couldn't keep me from dozing off to slumber city in parallel universeNarcopolis ( "Narcopolice"? ) just loses itself in trying to tie too many loose ends that seem to be caught in a vortex of bad Sy Fy writing where no hack has gone beyond.Hate being hard on a movie - regardless of budget, it is still someone's creative sweat equity - but this is a real stinkerBut if you are suffering from insomnia...this might be the right drug for ya.

Justin Trefgarne has his first cinematic debut with the crowdfunded Narcopolis; a sci-fi drama about a future where drugs have been not only legalized, but are being pushed by corporate backers as being a safe alternative to street narcotics.There were several things I really liked about this film, despite being what most people would consider a low budget type of film. First, as a science fiction, it brings a very unique idea to the audience. Although the majority of the film is in the detective style of neo-noir films, the concept is a solid one. Imagine a future, where the majority of citizens are not only using, but encouraged to do so though advertising and product guarantees. Narcotics are available in every society I can think of, but very few of them have been privatized outside of the prescription drug market. There is some decent acting, and I was particularly impressed by Eliot Cowan's portrayal as the protagonist Frank Grieves; who portrayed a massive and daunting man, battling his own demons, while progressing through a series of bizarre events.The things that most people will notice are the poorly written plot twists, and dialogue. Some of the twists that are meant to shock the audience fall quite flat during this film, or are revealed at the wrong times. Perhaps due to poor direction or writing execution, it's hard to say, but there are several scenes that make little to no sense in the overall plot. A few of the actors are new, and you can tell in the way they exchange dialogue. Yet if you can look past these scene errors and look at the overall film, I think you'll be quite pleased at the end result. I encourage more films from Justin Trefgarn and hope he keeps to the same genre. I especially enjoyed the opening of the film, which set quite a pace that I wished that the rest of the movie kept up to.Needless to say, it's a very sound Sci-Fiction / Drama, but most viewers will hold it to perhaps too high a standard. An excellent first entry along the lines of 'Equilibrium' (2002).5/10

***EDIT 55 out of 93...?Seriously, did I do THAT badly...?*******This is a very different, character driven type of Science Fiction film. In the reviews that I read before watching this, they threw around terms like "A cross between 'BLADE RUNNER'" and other Dystopian Sci Fi films, but that is not altogether quite true. I listened to the director's commentary, so I was able to gain a lot of insight into what he was trying to do and what his focus was in making this film. What I got from this is that he was HEAVILY focusing on the Dramatic elements of the characters more than anything else. Not to say that the Science Fiction elements are not good too, but that is not really the true focus of the film (it IS in the sense that the ultimate revelation in the story is primarily Sci Fi oriented, but the main thrust of the film along the way is not)Clearly, the director and everyone involved poured their hearts into the making of this film. The performances are quite good. It's an interesting touch that the boy and the Mother in the film are in actuality the wife and son of the director. The boy is particularly good in his role, and although not really having much experience in heavy duty acting, he really did an outstanding job, especially in his scenes with his screen Dad.The cinematography was also very good with some nice shots of futuristic looking buildings from different countries in contrast with some rather stark UK interior shots. Apparently, they had VERY little money to work with, but considering that, I thought they did a very good job of putting this movie together. The editing and pacing are good. I particularly liked the sound design. I thought that it fit the scenes really well with a nice mix of Industrial sounds and moody backgrounds that were quite effective.The director mentions in his commentary that he deliberately left the last act and ending rather ambiguous, which is fine. I don't mind ambiguous endings at all. BUT... and this is just my own lowly and wretched opinion... I probably would have rather seen him kind of 'Punch up' the Sci Fi aspect of the story a little more, instead of weighting it so heavily towards Drama. Don't get me wrong, the characterizations and interactions with his family were done really well. It just seems to me personally that if you have a real Kick@ss concept, then it would have been nice to have a BIT more of that Kick@ssedness on the Sci Fi part of the story and film, rather than leaving it QUITE so vague and ambiguous. In other words, I don't mind an 'Up in the air' ending at all, BUT... being a real avid Lover of Science Fiction, I would've liked to have seen a more powerful Science Fiction element in the outworking of the story which I feel would've given more weight to it's resolution and would have hit home more effectively. Not giving anything away, but I really DID like the very last scene and felt that that was a great way to leave it, BUT, I would have liked seeing a bit more of an effective 'Punch' leading up to it. A good example of what I mean is the excellent French film 'CHRYSALIS' (2007) which was more of a slightly Science Fiction flavoured Futuristic Crime Thriller, but I felt that the Sci Fi elements in that movie were more effective than in this film.So, going into this movie, I would say that if you are expecting a really HUGE, epic Sci Fi Blockbuster (like the Awesome 'BLADE RUNNER') this movie isn't about that. The look, cinematography, and style are very nicely done, but the Sci Fi elements are very downplayed and low-key. So, you might not get quite as worked up as you would for other Science Fiction films, since this one is more concept and character driven. BUT... with that said, when the Sci Fi part of the story kicks in about half way through, although a bit vague and maybe not quite as realized as it could be, still, the concept and story are quite intriguing and the film definitely DOES leave the audience wondering and asking themselves what the hell is going to happen next...I gave it a '7', which is maybe a LITTLE generous, but that's because I felt that, generally as a MOVIE, it was put together well. However, purely as a Science Fiction film, though, I would probably give it a bit more towards a '6'...