A chaotic dystopian thriller wastes an incredible sci-fi concept

The fix
is an independent science fiction film from South Africa that features an intriguing premise, with stilted performances and direction. The film stars Grace Van Dien, who recently found viral success for her role in Stranger Things like Chrissy Cunningham. Now in a leading role, Van Dien takes on the role of a supermodel living in a dystopian future where the air is toxic.

The fix explores a world where a toxic gas has taken over the planet, resulting in everyone needing to wear masks to avoid getting sicker. However, a revolutionary drug company is able to keep people safe as long as they can afford a steady supply of their medicines to combat the effects of toxins. Meanwhile, a clandestine group of scientists finds an entirely new way to immunize people against toxic effects, but it comes with some serious side effects.

The Fix offers fast world building

For any expansive dystopian sci-fi film or show, there is a hurdle to overcome when it comes to establishing the world and rules of the story. As this reality exists outside of the familiar, the film needs to clearly highlight what is different, what is the same and how things work. The fix understands that this is a necessity, and with a film that contains such a sprawling premise, there’s a lot to explain in the first act. However, the film advances this exposition in the first ten minutes.

This is somewhat impressive as it jumps between characters, with stacked dialogue and multiple twists arriving in quick succession. If the film had slowed down at the beginning, it could have had a much more satisfying and even pace, but it is rushed and dense. But it’s not dense in terms of richness, as the story is quite simple. Most of the interesting sci-fi elements come from the impressively rendered futuristic gadgets throughout the film, which take our attention away from the narrative and onto the gadgets.

Meanwhile, the story seems to progress quickly through poorly cut scenes that make it feel choppy and unfocused. Fortunately, the third act slows down quite slowly, having burned through much of the story, and allows us some time to breathe and catch up once it reaches the end. Overall, this pace makes the film difficult to watch, but there is no denying that there are interesting elements being explored in the narrative.

The Fix gets points for imagination and creativity

Grace Van Dien is the highlight of the film. As she undergoes a terrifying transformation, her character tries to uncover the big players who are fighting to gain control of the air people breathe. On the one hand, the rebels hope to make the cure accessible to everyone, but there will be significant consequences. On the other hand, Profits takes the lead with a short-term solution that requires constant dosing to remain effective. And in the middle of it all is a model who accidentally finds herself in the middle of the chaos.

The writing isn’t particularly strong, as the story flow, character interactions, and pacing could have seen significant improvements with a revised script, but Van Dien does as much as he can with the role. Additionally, the visual effects are impressive and the makeup and costume designs add vibrancy and life to the world being built. It’s a shame the writing wasn’t a little more polished to complement the story.

The fixThe vision of an established sci-fi world is there, but it feels like a vague representation of something that could have been much bigger. The inspiration and creativity that went into the film deserves recognition and the main character was expertly cast, but with some subtle tweaks the film could have been raised to a much higher standard. The film is unique and intriguing, but struggles to tell its own story effectively.

The fix is available to stream digitally on November 22nd.