Utopia

A young woman and her husband arrive at the house of her recently deceased grandfather.  It is immediately clear that grandpa was a hoarder.  However, among the junk are pages of a comic book called Utopia, which claims to be the sequel to Dystopia.  Though the wife suggests tossing it in the trash, the husband thinks it might be worth something.  Indeed, he gets some immediate feedback online.  Well, I guess this is something for ebay.  No?  Never heard of ebay?  You're going to rent a room at a hotel during a comicbook convention and have non-secret bids from a random set of convention attendees?  Okay.

On the other side of this are the fans, specifically a group of 5 fans who believe that Dystopia is not exactly fictional.  Yes, they are conspiracy theorists who believe Mr. Rabbit - the comic's villain - is an evil genius who plans to wipe out humanity with an engineered virus and that he is responsible for a variety of viral outbreaks around the world which are cleverly exposed in the pages of Dystopia.  With Utopia, they will be able to find out who Mr. Rabbit is and save the world!  Okay.

The hero of Utopia is Jessica Hyde, the daughter of a brilliant scientist who has been kidnapped by Mr. Rabbit.  Her goal is to rescue her father while avoiding the agents of Mr. Rabbit.  At the end of episode 1, she shows up.  So, there is indeed truth to the comic.  Oddly enough, when the conspiracy theorists meet her, they are skeptical.  Okay.

Though this is just an American version of a British show, it had the misfortune to premier during Covid-19 and some of the storyline is pretty creepy with that backdrop.  We have a villain who has intentionally spread a disease for which he has a 'vaccine.'  He wants everyone to take the vaccine.  Whenever his plot is on the ropes, he engineers some fake news.  Yes, he has an entire cadre of people who create false identities and histories for his agents, make certain stories trend on social media, and otherwise manipulate the populace.  At any other time, this might just be escapist but there is maybe a smidge too much verisimilitude here.

The 8th and final episode ends with cliffhangers for all the major characters, signaling a second season.  Not only are they cliffhangers, half of them are accompanied by a major plot twist.  With the ham-fisted way that the finale dealt with the vaccine, I don't have high hopes for the explanations for these twists.

Overall, it's not worth the effort.  I wouldn't have watched the whole thing except to write this review.  John Cusack and Rainn Wilson are the most noteworthy stars.  The background of the 'comic' that starts the ball rolling undermines the idea of a comic.  Who published Dystopia if it is just a bunch of art from a man stuck in an asylum?  When Utopia shows on the scene, it's as if everything is a mystery but there are all these fanboys who cosplay as the various characters.

Skip this one.

Never Grow Old (2019)

Patrick Tate (Emile Hirsch) is the carpenter and undertaker of a small town during the California Gold Rush.  Though he would like to pull up stakes and cross the mountains to where the gold is, his wife (Deborah Francois) would rather stay.  Audrey is pregnant and they are doing well enough.  As they are both Catholic (he's Irish and she's French), they are still outsiders despite having joined the local protestant church.  It's a tolerable life.

One night, Dutch Albert (John Cusack) knocks on their door during a storm.  He asks where he can find Bill Crabtree.  Patrick gives directions to the Crabtree house but also reveals that the man left some time ago.  Dutch insists that Patrick show him the way, making threats when Patrick balks.  Unable to find Crabtree or get information from his terrified wife and daughter, Dutch looks for a saloon.  Closed by order of the reverend; this is a dry town.  Seeing an opportunity, Dutch buys the saloon and populates it with prostitutes.  Unsurprisingly, Patrick gets a lot more requests for his services as undertaker.  However, one of Dutch's goons has taken a fancy to Audrey.  Now she is eager to leave while Patrick - who has seen his income soar - would rather stay.

The building pressure between Reverend Pike and Dutch cannot hold.  The character of the town has changed dramatically, violence abounds, and the cemetery has a lot of fresh graves.  Which side will Patrick chose?

Filmed in Ireland and Luxembourg, this is not a bad Western.  It is odd to see John Cusack as the bad guy.  Emile Hirsch does an excellent job of being the conflicted anti-hero.  This is a very different role from Speed Racer and at no point was I reminded of that role.  Not an action-packed Western but more of a slow burn to a climax.