82. Electric Malady; movie review

 

ELECTRIC MALADY

Cert 12A

81 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, references to mental health and suicide

I am writing this review on a laptop, in front of a wifi television where I watched the film, next to a mobile phone which I use, according to its latest bulletin, five hours a day.

My car has a satellite navigation system and is aided by driver assistance.

Technology is in every nook and cranny of our home, from the Sonos music system to the remote-controlled heating, to the cooking, freezing and washing components of our kitchen.

What if all of the above were making us chronically sick. Could we do without them? And how would we protect ourselves from the radiation of others' technology?

William, the subject of Marie Lidén's documentary, has been forced to retreat from life for the past decade and lives in a remote cottage, literally hidden beneath layers of copper-lined fabric in a foil-encased bedroom.

He suffers extreme electrosensitivity so even going outside into the Swedish countryside makes him ill.

This leads him to talk about suicide and causes terrible angst to his parents who remember him as a masters student and aspiring musician.

Electric Malady is a fascinating portrait of survival - his battle against loneliness and desperation as well as the headaches which prompt extreme lethargy.

The film shows visits by his parents, his priest, doctor and sister and also refers back to videos of him as a younger man and a child.

This is a film which is high on emotion and apparently, the sequences with William were filmed largely with a hand-crankled camera to avoid causing further illness.

The only disappointment was that it offered only very fleeting context. We wanted to know more about how radioactivity through wireless devices might be affecting us or our family.

Could we turn out like William and, if not, why not?

Nevertheless, it is a riveting documentary.

Reasons to watch: Frightening documentary

Reasons to avoid: Not enough context

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not an accepted diagnosis; medically there is no case definition or clinical practice guideline and there is no specific test to identify it, nor is there an agreed-upon definition with which to conduct clinical research

The final word. "Marie Lidén: "Electric Malady is so important to me because of the voice I hope it will give to those suffering from electrosensitivity. In many cases, these people’s stories are marginalised because they cannot communicate the way we do through the Internet or even using phones."

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