UTOPIA | Omeleto
1,545,584
Published 2021-03-11
UTOPIA is used with permission from Kosta Nikas. Learn more at facebook.com/utopiaflick.
Jack has just come back to his homeland of Australia after over a decade away in paradise. But after being met at the airport by his brother Frank, Jack discovers that the country has radically changed. Citizens report and fine one another for various civil infractions, using their mobile phones to record and upload offenses to a government app.
Jack is in disbelief as he arrives at Frank's home with his wife Margaret, and he can't even believe that swearing is fined and alcohol is banned. There are cameras everywhere, and the only safe place in people's homes is the bathroom. Unable to adapt or accept the changes, Jack attempts to leave the country -- a much harder feat to accomplish than he thought.
Written and directed by Kosta Nikas, this sci-fi short may be named after an ideal paradise of balance and peace, but its title is deeply satirical in how the film portrays the absurdity of the new surveillance state. It constructs a fascinating world that seems only a few steps removed from our phone-saturated society, telling its cautionary tale in an ironically jaunty way.
The writing takes time in its world-building, which is often one of the pleasures of the sci-fi genre. The narrative action at the beginning catalogs the myriad ways that control and order are exerted over people, and there's dour, wry humor embedded in how Frank escorts his increasingly skeptical brother through this brave new world. The bright sunniness of the cinematography and the percolating, cheerful musical score that peppers itself throughout the film also add touches of stylish buoyancy to what is an increasingly dark story.
The aesthetic approach offers a counterpoint to the often horrifying reality shown on screen, in which citizens are incentivized to document one another's offenses through their omnipresent phones. Jack is a stand-in for the audience, looking increasingly askance at how even the most intimate recesses of everyday life can't escape the pitiless lens of a camera and the desperate people wielding them.
It takes some time for the dramatic conflict to emerge, but the world-building is fascinating enough to carry interest through, and is substantial and detailed enough to power an entire series or feature. By the time Jack finally decides that he must escape, the building blocks of the world and story have been carefully laid into place, forming a chain of obstacles that make it harder for him to leave. He seems trapped indefinitely, but then he gets an unexpected chance -- though one that comes at considerable cost.
That cost, however, doesn't seem so bad by the time we conclude UTOPIA, which we realize is anything but. Its sense of horror derives not from perversity or violence, but from how the world that the film constructs is only a few clicks from our current reality.
Practically everyone has a smartphone, and the devices are deeply integrated with almost all aspects of our lives, from banking to romance to communication to entertainment. At many levels, we're still reckoning with how mobile technology is transforming our lives and our relationships. A population armed with phones -- and imbued with increasingly knee-jerk punitiveness towards fellow humans -- seems ludicrous, but with deeper reflection, viewers realize those pieces are already in place in other aspects of our culture. Are human beings so weak that they could be weaponized to do a government's surveillance for them? UTOPIA imagines that day isn't as far as one would think.
All Comments (20)
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when margaret says “because i’m free” when the lady asked why she’s always smiling- that hits deep. she’d rather be in a literal prison than have her right to individuality be taken. brilliant film 💜
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I love the woman who played Margaret, she played the part so well, I could see real pity in her eyes, mixed with pain and frustration when she realizes she can't let Jack just get trapped like they did. Amazing.
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This is not just a short film; it's a warning.
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This would make a great full length film. However, the entire message is made so clear with this short and it's terrifyingly brilliant.
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"When your belly's empty you'll swallow anything they shove down your throat." No truer words ever spoken.
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In my town you can take a picture of peoples sidewalks if they haven’t shoveled the snow or picked up the grass and send it to the city. The fact that people don’t seem to see anything wrong with this perpetually boggles my mind.
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This is one of THE scariest movies I’ve ever seen. It literally made me sick to my stomach. You start giving commission to people for turning other people in, we’re done for.
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In Australia we already have private contractors getting paid a commission for catching drivers breaking the speed limit. So as for this movie's "government app that pays you 10% commission to snap another citizen committing an infringement", the precedent is already in place.
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"I'm old now, I'm tired now, I've done my fighting. I'd like to live out the rest of my life with the few freedoms I have left." I feel that SOOOO deeply right now!
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A frog never notices the heat until he's cook in the pot.
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Your phone is listening even when your phone is off. . .
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This needs to be made as a full movie. That's great content. Thinking about how fast we're slowly coming to this stage. It's actually not far-fetched tbh
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The Joker would definitely have a field day in this world.
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This is by far the scariest thing I've ever seen simply because it's such a likely scenario. People already feel entitled, imagine the government paying them to snitch on other people
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“Artists were supposed to turn a mirror on society, but instead they turned the mirror on themselves.” Most powerful statement I’ve heard in a while.
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“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing” {Big brother is watching you} -George Orwell, 1984
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Honestly this feels like something that could happen in the future, and that’s kind of scary Edit: Stop with all the weird conservative conspiracy comments. Yes this is kind of happening, but stop trying to pin it on one side. Look at the abortion whistleblower site in Texas.
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3:47 "Gee, things have changed a bit." "We hardly noticed." Delivered that line with a perfect mix of irony, cynicism and simple resignation. It's Doublespeak. They probably DID hardly notice, because the changes were gradual, but when they look back it's impossible not to notice how much things have changed. So they hardly noticed, but they can't help but have noticed.
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SPOT ON!!!! Artists and writers turned a mirror on themselves - selfies. Too right.
