Unique, with some fantastic idea's / statement on capitalism and our society... but poorly executed. Still worth a watch if you have the patience.

Rating: 6/10 (7 December 2011)

I'm not going to give a synopsis of this film as I hate reviews that give away too much about the plot and characters; if you looking for that there are plenty of review already doing this. I've ticked the spoiler's box to be safe. There are no real plot spoilers but there are setting and background spoilers.
The idea's in this film and the way that they are represented is innovative and unique, but the cultural, political, social, ethical and moral ideas expressed in this film are very current and very relevant. I'm always a big fan of Orwellian styled fiction and this one is the first I've seen in a long time that confront issues that are directly relevant to our own. The film is one big metaphor of the injustice and absurdity of capitalism. This is something I've not really seen in a film since the film adaptation(s) of Gorge Orwell's 1984. You have films like Equilibrium, Blade Runner, and Minority Report etc. that are Orwellian in content/style but none of these really touched on contemporary matters that had direct reference to our own society and the current direction in which it is heading.
Money/Currency in the film is represented by time, when you run out of time (money) you die. Everyone stop aging at 25 and their clock start with just one year on the counter (credit/debit card), and it start counting down (cost of living). This means people living in the slums live a rat race against time to keep their clocks active, while the rich live calm relaxed life of almost immortality (they can still be killed by normal means).
Throughout the film the cost of services and goods keeps going up (a direct correlation to inflation) this in turn means that the slums start filling up with the dead quicker as people 'time out' (die). For the few to be immortal someone else has to die. This is the simple truth of the system as quoted form the film which has a direct correlation to our society where bankruptcy and poverty are a necessity so that a few can be rich.
The film used 'timing out' (death) as a very blunt and clear message; allowing people to die so you can live longer and have a better life is wrong! I don't think any self-respecting individual would say otherwise. It exaggerates the moral ambiguity that capitalism and money have brought on society, and 10 stars to the film for that fantastic visual metaphor of how messed up our own society truly is. When you look at it like that; being rich means you live longer, you have a better quality of life, and spend more of it doing what you want. While the rest of society works them self's into an early grave so the rich can have their privileged life. Well guess what that's right where we are right now! Unfortunately the dialog, acting, and pacing of the film leave a lot to be desired and unfortunately this means that the impact of the metaphoric idea's expressed in this film will land on bored, deaf ears/eyes. Which is a shame as it could have truly been the next 1984 alas it just falls very short.