Review by
Ren Zelen
Directed by: Noah Hutton
Starring: Dean Imperial, Madeline Wise, Babe Howard, James McDaniel, Ivory Aquino,
Dora Madison
Lapsis is one of those rare indie films which succeeds as an
engaging sci-fi narrative, while also working as a smart political
critique of gig-worker economics and the fantasy of the ‘American dream’
of capitalism which allows exploitation to flourish.
Noah Hutton’s new film takes place in a possible near-future and
highlights the way in which the gig economy and zero-hour contracts offer
commitment-free employment but allow employers to get richer by avoiding
the provision of job security or benefits, while publicly using ‘PR
friendly’ ways of pushing productivity further. Thus, the gap between rich
and poor continues to grow ever wider.
Playwright and filmmaker Dean Imperial stars as Ray, a middle-aged
driver who is happy to muddle along in a mundane job delivering lost
luggage, until he finds himself in need of some extra cash. The cash is
necessary to cover the medical expenses of his younger brother Jamie (Babe Howard), who suffers from a chronic fatigue illness which regular medical
insurance refuses to cover.
Ray is a simple soul who believes in the system which tells him that if
you work hard and keep your head down, the system will treat you fairly.
He also believes that an expensive clinic claiming to offer revolutionary
‘cures’ for people with chronic fatigue illness will be the best option
for his brother.
In Ray’s world an upgrade to Quantum computing has become a necessity for
most people so that they can receive important daily information. Ray
hears about a part-time job stringing cables for a company called CLBR, a
tech firm whose quantum computers need human beings to hike through
difficult, wooded terrain to physically connect their expanding cable
network to huge, imposing, silver cubes that power the technology. This
supposedly high-paying, fast-money venture demands arduous physical effort
on the part of the ‘cabler’.
Cablers have to physically drag a cart carrying the cable through
wilderness terrain. New cablers are assigned ‘medallions’ to earn points
on the basis of the time they take on each trail and thus they are able to
progress gradually, being able to bid for more lucrative trails each time.
Each cabler is assigned an alias along with an indicator integrated within
a smartphone that keeps track of their progress, but which also strictly
allocates the time during which they can take rest breaks.
Ray arranges to receive a second-hand ‘medallion’ through a shady
middleman called Felix, (James McDaniel), who demands part of his
earnings in the deal. Soon Ray discovers that his medallion is already
loaded with pre-earned points which lead him to rise through ranks quickly
while his legitimate co-cablers must suffer through the slog of earning
points through hard work in difficult conditions.
CLBR, the tech firm they’re working for, finds ways of increasing speed
and productivity with the tracker/phone chirping out slogans of
encouragement, such as "Challenge your status quo!" and "Continue your
adventure!". However, if anyone pauses for an unscheduled breather, it
shames the participant by repeatedly blaring "Rest denied!"
The cablers are also pitted against small automated robots on the same
routes who never get tired, sleep or stop for meal breaks, and who will do
them out of their salaries if they get ahead of their human counterparts.
Ray is not tech savvy and is simply perplexed by something he doesn't
understand. When he meets up with the more experienced and confident Anna
(Madeline Wise) on one of his trails, his simple beliefs about the
system come in conflict with her well researched and more informed
standpoint on how the system actually works. His arguments about a ‘level
playing field’ and ‘healthy competition’ are shattered when Anna confronts
Ray about the ‘unearned’ advantages he has illegitimately obtained on his
‘pre-owned’ medallion.
As he chats to younger, more knowledgeable cablers, Ray begins to wonder
about his preconceptions and realises there is much he doesn’t understand
about how the corporation controlling his fate functions and how it
exploits its workforce. Slowly, he also begins to become suspicious about
the kind of treatment his brother is receiving in his ‘special’ clinic and
how this kind of pseudoscience may be geared to simply fleecing the
vulnerable with false hopes of expensive ‘cures’.
Contact with the well-informed Anna and with other kinds of people is the
catalyst for Ray getting an education about the realities of capitalism,
and how the myth of the ‘American dream’ makes exploitation possible. He
comes to understand the role that the workforce must play in securing
proper labour rights for a fairer society.
Having said this, it must also be said that although
Lapsis works as a social critique it is successfully wrapped
inside a well-paced and very watchable sci-fi parable. Writer-director
Hutton focusses on the character and a set of revelations that make up an
intriguing story rather than the technology.
Hutton builds an entirely grounded world with a story which chugs along
and keeps you watching. It is constantly inventive and imaginative, taking
us along with Ray though his many tribulations in the forested areas
during his cabling but also in the world outside when the dodgy Felix and
CLBR both contend to make his situation more tangled.
Using a sci-fi metaphor Hutton provides an entertaining, often slightly
comedic examination of issues that have current relevance. He is aided by
Imperial and Wise’s engaging and convincing performances as Ray and Anna,
who serve as our guides through a world which parallels our own, where
greedy corporations and governments create the impression of ‘fair’
competition in society to more easily take advantage of people who don’t
want to look any deeper into the illusions they create.
Lapsis is on UK/ROI Digital from July 5th.
