212. The Gallery; movie review

 

THE GALLERY

Cert 15

318 mins

BBFC advice: Contains  very strong language, strong violence, drug misuse

Been there, done that.

It's been six years since I decided on the outcomes of a movie called Late Shift after paying £4.99 to download its associated app.

I wrote at the time that I was engrossed and "incredibly impressed" at the seamlessness of the technology.

However, the groundbreaking genre didn't catch on. 

It felt like deja vu when I watched The Gallery - apart from the £7 extra I paid to download the relevant app and game/film this time.

Unfortunately, while the cost is more expensive, the experience wasn't more memorable. For me, the innovation which enables audience participation has greater emphasis than storytelling.

Paul Raschid's movie stars George Blagden as an art curator who specialises in portraits and is set on the eve of an important exhibition.

Early on, he has a clash with one of his key artists (Rebecca Root), enabling the audience to get into the swing of deciding how he they want him to reacts to situations.

And then another painter (Anna Poppleweel) suddenly bursts into his studio, holds him hostage and threatens to blow him up.

Sporadically, questions are flashed on screen and the next scene's selection depends on the answers.

Alas, neither the storyline nor the characters were engaging enough for me to give deep consideration to my responses. 

It also occured to me early on that I would have had to watch the movie and again to see where else I could have taken it.

Frankly, it wasn't interesting enough to inspire me to see it twice let alone six or seven times..

But I'll be honest and admit I am not a compter-game player, so the experience was probably wasted on me.

Reasons to watch: Original-ish movie concept

Reasons to avoid: Wasn't engaging enough to go back

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? The world's first live interactive movie was My One Demand which was filmed and premiered on 25 June 2015.

The final word. Paul Raschid: "I think the boom in film, TV and gaming content in recent years has created a hunger for different modes of storytelling from gamers and film-watchers alike. For me, the live-action video game is the perfect crossroads between the two mediums and I hope the resurgence continues because I truly believe it has a place in the content landscape." Press Play Media

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