Total Recall

Delve into a futuristic landscape, where the distinction between dreams and memory is so difficult to define that it becomes impossible not to lose yourself.

Set at the end of the twenty-first century, Douglas Quaid - played by Colin Farrell - is entrapped in a mundane life, haunted by inexplicable dreams.  Seeking something greater, he turns to Rekall who specialise in fabricating the memory of a chosen fantasy.  But in doing so, Quaid's world suddenly unravels and he finds himself at the centre of a war between a ruthless state and a terrorist rebellion.

Torn apart by chemical warfare, most of the planet has become completely uninhabitable.  There are now only two places: the United Federation of Britain and the rain-streaked Colony, separated by the seventeen minute passage of 'the fall'.  With moments reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's Inception, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Michael Bay's The Island, the film produces an absorbing futuristic landscape.  The cinematography is beautiful and unique - the glares of light and subtle refocusing of the camera create a world that feels at once unstable and uncertain.  This allows the film to delve into the uncanny against a backdrop of doubt and conspiracy.  Nothing is truly as it seems...

Colin Farrell perfectly captures a man who is lost and vulnerable, while also portraying the tensions of the complex and murderous potential that lies beneath.  His co-stars, played by Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel, were also highly engaging in their respective romantic and deadly roles.  The film plays on delicious moments that cast both Farrell's character and the audience into an equal sense of doubt as to where the line between reality and fantasy should be drawn.  The only flaw, I felt, was that the filmmakers could have taken this intriguing concept so much further with the ending, which disappointingly felt too neatly tied and simple.  However, with thrilling action sequences and a stunning cast, the conclusion fails to significantly tarnish the film.

Total Recall therefore presents an engaging exploration of subjectivity within a fabricated world, that is cleverly constructed through fractured memories and illusion.