Dystopia

"Paradise" extrapolates the current Leftist policies that support uncontrolled immigration and oppressive mega-corporations. The result is a dystopia. Ironically, the movie has woke elements.

In this movie set in Germany and Lithuania, uncontrolled immigration has resulted in immigrant ghettos on the city outskirts and vast (and I mean *vast*) refugee concentration camps in the interior. All immigrant areas are walled in by fences and security checkpoints. Both immigrants and the native population are viewed as commodities by Aeon, a company that rivals governments in power.

The science fiction premise here is that age can be transfered between compatible individuals, plus and minus, like a balance sheet. So, the rich get younger, and poor can choose to exchange life for money. If you default on a bank loan, the government can forcibly collect your age to offset your debts. Nice.

The wokeness in this Netflix production is a bit subtle. There is briefly a lesbian couple, comprised of an elderly woman and a young woman who was elderly before. It comes off as a forced virtue signal. The head henchman is a pure African woman and her sidekick is a Turkish man. Meanwhile, the lead male is half Indian, which means he is in an interracial relationship and we know his parents were too, bonus. If every movie weren't like this, I wouldn't notice.

The premise is interesting. The science is pure fantasy, but I can suspend belief for that. However, this felt like a B-movie towards the end. Cartoony villains and "haha, I've got you now" moments broke my suspension of disbelief.

Ultimately, the movie fizzled for me. I can't help but wonder if woke brain rot and DEI hiring decisions ruined a recipe for a good movie.