Paradise Hills opens with a Stepford Wives sorta situation, in which a new bride pledges her enduring loyalty and servitude to her groom via song. Hills is essentially a fairy story presented by way of a low budget sci-fi, with women gussied up in Medieval inspired space latex. They inhabit a misogynistic world where free-thinking, "troublesome" women are sent to a creepy, hi-tech spa retreat, "Paradise Hills" where they are taught how to be good little women. This film isn't exactly subtle about its subject matter.
A lot of the reviews I have seen around this movie are of people thankful for the film existing in the first place. I can see where this is coming from; this feels like someone's weird little passion project that has managed to find its way onto Netflix, whereas it would have otherwise never got a wider cinema or TV release. But besides all that, there is still the question of whether the movie is any good.
No. Not really. Putting aside the obvious limitations this film is facing on a budget level, the stuff you can get done cheaply, like good writing, also isn't up to scratch. Even the title is uninspired. "Paradise Hills?" Even "Paradise Falls" would have been marginally more imaginative. Dialogue is awkward and clunky and none of the characters are particularly interesting, with the exception of Milla Jovovich. She plays the head of Paradise Hills, vamping it up as a transparently evil villain, garbed up as a 1950s style, maternalistic sitcom wife. As fun as she is, even her character gets bungled in the end. In the movie's climax, just when we are supposed to be figuring out what her deal is, the movie makes a bizarre reveal about her and then outright refuses to clarify it any further. It's frustrating and feels like a neglected vestige from a first draft.
Visually, the movie has some interesting costumes and locations, but you'll probably get tired of seeing them. There just isn't a lot of variety, and with a simplistic plot premise, dull characters, and anvilicious themes, it just doesn't have enough to deserve a recommendation.
Film A Sophomore Student Play
Paradise Hills opens with a Stepford Wives sorta situation, in which a new bride pledges her enduring loyalty and servitude to her groom via song. Hills is essentially a fairy story presented by way of a low budget sci-fi, with women gussied up in Medieval inspired space latex. They inhabit a misogynistic world where free-thinking, "troublesome" women are sent to a creepy, hi-tech spa retreat, "Paradise Hills" where they are taught how to be good little women. This film isn't exactly subtle about its subject matter.
A lot of the reviews I have seen around this movie are of people thankful for the film existing in the first place. I can see where this is coming from; this feels like someone's weird little passion project that has managed to find its way onto Netflix, whereas it would have otherwise never got a wider cinema or TV release. But besides all that, there is still the question of whether the movie is any good.
No. Not really. Putting aside the obvious limitations this film is facing on a budget level, the stuff you can get done cheaply, like good writing, also isn't up to scratch. Even the title is uninspired. "Paradise Hills?" Even "Paradise Falls" would have been marginally more imaginative. Dialogue is awkward and clunky and none of the characters are particularly interesting, with the exception of Milla Jovovich. She plays the head of Paradise Hills, vamping it up as a transparently evil villain, garbed up as a 1950s style, maternalistic sitcom wife. As fun as she is, even her character gets bungled in the end. In the movie's climax, just when we are supposed to be figuring out what her deal is, the movie makes a bizarre reveal about her and then outright refuses to clarify it any further. It's frustrating and feels like a neglected vestige from a first draft.
Visually, the movie has some interesting costumes and locations, but you'll probably get tired of seeing them. There just isn't a lot of variety, and with a simplistic plot premise, dull characters, and anvilicious themes, it just doesn't have enough to deserve a recommendation.