Zero Contact

A movie made during the Covid pandemic by first time director Rick Dugdale. If he had not secured the services of two time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, I doubt I would have been watching it.

Hopkins plays mysterious megalomaniac Finley Hart. He has died but he left his final project unfinished. 'The Quantinuum Initiative.'

This project was a source of controversy which led to a family feud within his company and left him ousted.

Now a group of people have been summoned for a video chat where they need to enter a secret code.

Easier said than done as they are being killed off by an intruder. One person in the video chat is Hart's estranged son who is suddenly contacted by a familiar face.

Although the makers claim that the movie was shot in multiple countries. It was in effect shot on smartphones in living rooms or offices or someone's backyard. There is a glimpse of the Burj Khalifa from one participant's window.

This is a zoom movie with the action taking place on computer screens. The plot is silly as all manners of excuses are summoned up not to punch in the codes as the killer looms nearby.

Hopkins pops up here and there with some musings about life, even playing the piano at one point. He manages to deliver some charisma that the rest of the movie is lacking.

Do u silly humans just blindly go watch a movie? Now in 22?

And then they're like omg this was so awful, why? I saw this A list star and I thought...what did u thnk, huh? Are y'all 14 or something? :)) U should know better by now lol.

A strange film. Shame Mr Hopkins put hsi good name to this "film".

Save yourself the time and the mental taxation by trying to follow what is going on.

I did find the concept interesting, and I felt that the acting was reasonably good. Sadly, the things I hate on every Zoom, FaceTime, Teams, or other virtual meeting existed here. If I had been able to mute certain participants at certain times, I may have made it through the movie, but the quiet clacking drove me nuts. I had to tap out.

The rest of the elements brought on by the pandemic existed as well. The isolation, the loss of "safety in numbers," the inability to respond to emergencies because you're all in very different locations, and the constant intrusion into our lives of cameras were all highlighted in the film.

Academy Award winner? Absolutely not. But I do not understand why all of the hatred with this film.

It was a challenge to make this movie during the COVID-19 pandemic, so that alone is a type of cinematic breakthrough and the film and directorial/production staff should get a positive acknowledgement for trying something different.

Is the plot line a bit sloppy? Absolutely. Tricky to follow at times? Yup. But movies are supposed to be a form of escapism. This qualifies as that. Different type of story with a unique production value and let's not forget Sir Anthony Hopkins....always a pleasure.