Movies By Cho: The Belko Experiment
Now Showing: The Belko Experiment
Starring: Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, Michael Rooker, John Gallagher, Jr.
Scene after the Credits: No
Would I see this again: Yes
Notable Previews: Sleight
Bottom Line: Psychological thriller in the kill or be killed vein
This movie is fucked up. We're talking Vault-Tec levels of fuckery here. For those unaware of the lore behind the Fallout games, here it is: Vault-Tec was a company that built 122 fallout shelters around the United States, in advance of an expected nuclear war with China. (not even remotely enough to save the 400 million people in the US at the time) However, instead of being mankind's salvation, the vaults were designed as social experiments where none of the occupants knew they were participating. (in some cases, the original Overseer of a vault was clued in, but that was rare)
Belko Industries is an even more perverse company. An American based international company, they've constructed an 8 story office building outside of Bogota, Columbia. The building is set a half mile away from the main road, and has a perimeter wall with its own private security force guarding the building. All American employees are required to have a "tracker" device implanted in their heads, because of the high rate of kidnapping in the country. On the day that the movie takes place, new perimeter guards are on duty, and they are checking all arriving cars and verifying IDs. For some reason, all the local Columbian employees are denied entrance and told to return home for the day, so eventually only 80 American employees are in the building.
Shortly after the work day has started, all the phones go dead, and a voice on the building intercom says they have 30 minutes to kill 2 employees. Most people assume it's some sick joke; perhaps a hacker has taken over the building's communications. But then, blast shields cover all the door and windows. What is going on? To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park: "Then later there's running and um, screaming." Also, dying. Lots & lots of dying.
It's a tight thriller that asks what you would do in a similar situation. Do you sit tight and accept your fate, or do you desperately fight to stay alive, even if that means killing others? I'm not sure how I would react, except that in an artificial situation like that I wouldn't believe for a second that *anyone* would be allowed to live at the end. You can't allow a witness to tell the world what happened, can you?
I can't really say the ending was satisfying to me, but it was probably more due to me being upset that a couple people I wanted to survive, didn't. Because they were STUPID. If you have a secure hiding place that NO ONE knows about, and is also (most likely) safely away from all the hidden cameras in the building, YOU STAY THERE. There were zero reasons for these people to leave their hiding spots when they could *hear* the killing still going on! Arrgh! And to make matters worst, the one person I expected to die early on actually makes it to the climax of the movie!
Starring: Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, Michael Rooker, John Gallagher, Jr.
Scene after the Credits: No
Would I see this again: Yes
Notable Previews: Sleight
Bottom Line: Psychological thriller in the kill or be killed vein
This movie is fucked up. We're talking Vault-Tec levels of fuckery here. For those unaware of the lore behind the Fallout games, here it is: Vault-Tec was a company that built 122 fallout shelters around the United States, in advance of an expected nuclear war with China. (not even remotely enough to save the 400 million people in the US at the time) However, instead of being mankind's salvation, the vaults were designed as social experiments where none of the occupants knew they were participating. (in some cases, the original Overseer of a vault was clued in, but that was rare)
Belko Industries is an even more perverse company. An American based international company, they've constructed an 8 story office building outside of Bogota, Columbia. The building is set a half mile away from the main road, and has a perimeter wall with its own private security force guarding the building. All American employees are required to have a "tracker" device implanted in their heads, because of the high rate of kidnapping in the country. On the day that the movie takes place, new perimeter guards are on duty, and they are checking all arriving cars and verifying IDs. For some reason, all the local Columbian employees are denied entrance and told to return home for the day, so eventually only 80 American employees are in the building.
Shortly after the work day has started, all the phones go dead, and a voice on the building intercom says they have 30 minutes to kill 2 employees. Most people assume it's some sick joke; perhaps a hacker has taken over the building's communications. But then, blast shields cover all the door and windows. What is going on? To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park: "Then later there's running and um, screaming." Also, dying. Lots & lots of dying.
It's a tight thriller that asks what you would do in a similar situation. Do you sit tight and accept your fate, or do you desperately fight to stay alive, even if that means killing others? I'm not sure how I would react, except that in an artificial situation like that I wouldn't believe for a second that *anyone* would be allowed to live at the end. You can't allow a witness to tell the world what happened, can you?
I can't really say the ending was satisfying to me, but it was probably more due to me being upset that a couple people I wanted to survive, didn't. Because they were STUPID. If you have a secure hiding place that NO ONE knows about, and is also (most likely) safely away from all the hidden cameras in the building, YOU STAY THERE. There were zero reasons for these people to leave their hiding spots when they could *hear* the killing still going on! Arrgh! And to make matters worst, the one person I expected to die early on actually makes it to the climax of the movie!