Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Kelsey Egan
Starring: Grace Van Dien, Daniel Sharman, Keenan Arrison, Tina Redman, Robyn
Rossouw, Tafara Nyatsanza, Nicole Fortuin, Clancy Brown
If you've seen Luc Besson's Lucy you've essentially seen a slicker (albeit worse) version of stunt
performer turned writer/director Kelsey Egan's The Fix. Like Besson's film, The Fix is centred on a young heroine who accidentally consumes an
experimental drug that gives her instant superpowers. The main
difference here is that The Fix's protagonist also undergoes extreme physical changes to her body,
which puts the film in the realm of movies like Ken Russell's Altered States, but both movies have pretty much the same narrative of a young woman
being pursued by the villainous developers of the drug she unwittingly
consumed.
The movie is set in a near future where a deadly toxin in Earth's
atmosphere has made the air unbreathable. The population is forced to
wear special masks if they wish to venture outside (ironically, Egan
developed her film before COVID hit, and was forced to delay shooting by
a couple of years). There's a drug in the form of pills that negates
mask use, but it's rapidly running out and only available to the
wealthy. Meanwhile, an obligatory evil tech bro, Eric (Daniel Sharman), is working on an experimental alternative drug, some samples of
which are stolen by drug dealers, who are unaware of its true
nature.
At a party, budding supermodel Ella (Grace Van Dien) barges in
on her boyfriend making out with her best friend. While in a fit of
depression and rage, she comes across a vial of the stolen drug and
knocks it back in one gulp. Ella immediately starts to notice strange
blotches on her skin, followed by sprouts emerging form her palms, which
she discovers allow her to scale walls like Spider-Man. As she tries to
find a way to reverse the effects of the drug, Ella finds herself
pursued by both the drug dealers and forces in the employ of Eric.
For a relatively low budget South African production, The Fix boasts polished visuals and manages to create a convincing
cyberpunk near future with some simple but effective production design.
But Egan is unable to populate the world she's developed with
interesting characters or an involving plot. Everyone we meet here feels
like a thinly drawn version of a dystopian sci-fi archetype. The plot is
quite simple but it all feels overly complicated thanks to too many
scenes in which characters dish out reams of techno-babble (often
unintelligibly, thanks to the masks muffling so much dialogue; combine
this with some thick South African accents and a lot of viewers are
going to require subtitles). Too much energy is wasted trying to explain
the drug and Eric's plans for it, when we're really just here for a
chase thriller.
As a sci-fi thriller, The Fix is too derivative to keep us hooked. The early scenes of Ella
grappling with her sudden transformation simply remind us of dozens of
superhero movies. The chase elements are dogged by uncreative direction,
with no set-pieces that leave a lasting impression. It doesn't help that
the soundtrack consists of c-grade rock and pop tunes that only serve to
cheapen the action where an orchestral or even synth score would have
been far more appropriate.
Stranger Things star Van Dien adds some minor star glitter, but some of the
supporting performances are made to look amateurish by her presence. For
all Van Dien's gamey performance, Ella just isn't a compelling
protagonist, and you might find yourself wishing the film had rejected
its Young Adult trappings in favour of something darker ala Species or Cronenberg's Rabid. If you have pangs for a gripping sci-fi thriller, you won't get your
fix here.
The Fix is on VOD from
November 22nd.
