Painfully gripping

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2010)

This is not a feel-good movie. This is not a movie that will give you a sense of accomplishment over impossible odds, or will leave you imbued with the permanence of human spirit and love. This is a gripping, gritty, sad tale of one man's descent into the mess that he helped architect. In that respect, it is an incredibly compelling movie. The subject matter is an only vaguely masked parable about the squalid conditions in South African relocation camps. We the audience become exposed to the details of power politics, acquiring food, having children, and making a living in the middle of this disposed community. We see the abuses of the haves from the have-nots, and the dark ways the have-nots respond.
The Science Fiction aspects are never backseat to the political messages. How the bug society functions, and more importantly how the humans respond to it, are all thoroughly and uniquely fleshed out. The movie never loses focus on the meaning of human interactions, but the science aspects are simultaneously well fleshed out.
Do not go into this movie expecting Aliens, Total Recall, Close Encounters, or Men in Black. This is a very different experience, similar in tone to a World War 2 biopic. I'd consider it one of the most "important" movies Hollywood has produced this decade. It isn't fun, or satisfying, or pleasant. But it is deeply meaningful, and very much worth experiencing.