Posted By Steve Harcourt on September 23, 2013

With his debut feature, Extracted (known as Extraction outside the US), Nir Paniry gives us a film exploring familiar territory, but unlike a lot of low budget Sci-fi, this familiarity breeds not contempt but the reassuring sense of a film you can enjoy.

Determined to help people recover from trauma, inventor ‘Tom’ (Sasha Roiz – Caprica, Grimm, Warehouse 13) has been developing technology to visit your own memories.  When funding problems arise, he reluctantly agrees to be backed by a mystery benefactor on the proviso that he develops the technology in a direction that includes visiting other people’s memories.  Forced into a presentation six weeks earlier than anticipated, he discovers that the benefactor is the Department of Justice and they want to examine the minds of criminals to assure convictions. Again troubled by the moral implications, but once more selling his soul, he agrees and continues with the demonstration on a prisoner they brought with them.  In the rush to prepare for this presentation, not everything has been tested thoroughly and only the prisoner wakes up, leaving ‘Tom’ in a coma-like state.  Unbeknownst to all, including his engineer ‘Garrett’ (Brad Culver) and his wife ‘Abbey’ (Jenny Mollen), he has become trapped inside the mind of ‘Anthony’ (Dominic Bogart), the criminal, and he has no way of getting out.

For many people, watching this film will bring to mind many other films and tropes that have become quite common.  From numerous TV shows and films, you can see similar ideas played out, so it doesn’t come across immediately as the most original film.  What it does do, however, is present the idea in a pleasant, if shallow way, that keeps you entertained for the 85 minutes while it unfolds a familiar narrative.  There are a few interesting ideas and touches throughout the film, but for the regular sci-fi audience, there will be a lot of influences evident.

The narrative, though generally solid, does have a few areas where it would have been interesting to explore a bit further, such as when ‘Tom’ is first trapped, as this whole period is skipped over.  While I can see why this was done, it does seem a bit conspicuous as this section would have given the character so much more depth and really add some more layers to the environment.

The cast do a pretty good job with the material despite the slightly thin nature of it.  It’s good to see Sasha Roiz, being as reliable as ever, and he is ably supported by Brad Culver and Jenny Mollen, although they really should have been given more to do, as their roles weren’t explored as well as they could have been.  Like Sasha Roiz, Dominic Bogart does a good job with his role (‘Anthony’) and he at least has a chance to develop the character.

With its low budget, the film has been shot relatively simple, but it is effective and conveys the narrative well.  Despite the possibility of overdoing it, or doing it clumsily, the temptation to overly CGI the scenes inside ‘Anthony’s mind is thankfully resisted, which keeps the film from becoming distracted from its ideas.  Generally, the memories have been presented in a relatively ‘matter of fact’ way, which does work, and although some elements of when the memories are being reconstructed is a little cheap looking, it is done well enough that you let it pass.

Ultimately, this felt like a made for TV movie or part of a TV anthology series rather than a theatrical film, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t bother with it.  There are some nice touches here, and Sasha Roiz has an enjoyable presence.  So, while you might spend your time playing spot the influence or spot the trope, you will probably have an entertaining time doing it.

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Categories: Movies, Reviews
Tags: Brad Culver, Caprica, Crime, Dominic Bogart, Extracted, Extraction, Grimm, Jenny Mollen, low budget, memory, Nir Paniry, Sasha Roiz, sci-fi, Warehouse 13