Visioneers

Not sure how it happened, or what I ordered, or what theater or film festival mailing list I'm on, but I had received an unsolicited email from B-Side Entertainment. They were touting an independent film that sadly was going straight-to-DVD, Visioneers. It seemed eminently entertaining: mindless office drones called "tunts", the threat of spontaneous human explosion, giving someone the finger as a friendly "hello", the Jeffers Corporation (the most successful corporation in the history of humankind) is so interwoven in society that the greeting of "Jeffers morning" is given. For $15 or however much it was, how could I go wrong? And soon it was in my mailbox.

The trailer:


Sort of an Office Space meets George Orwell's 1984 film. Billed as a "dark comedy", but there wasn't much blatant humor in joke form. Just outlandish and bizarre situations and characters to give the film its smiles.

Emotion and dreaming are the seemingly plausible cause of a growing epidemic of human explosions. Mindless cog George Washington Winsterhammerman, visioneer and Level 3 tunt, begins to have dreams. This frightens him. Is he about to explode?

Stress and emotion are the culprits. What better way to combat the growing threat than to neuter the minds of the masses then to dull them into quiet submission with mind control. And what better corporation to distribute the devices than the Jeffers Corporation? After all, the president of the United States shills for them.

George's relationships are all bizarre. The employees under him at work are a mixed bag of odd. His invisible supervisor (Charisma) on Level 4 is one to ask that his work be completed by a certain time, yet leaves sticky notes of smiley faces on his papers. His mindless wife abides by the latest book bandied about by a talk show maven, 1000 items to do or acquire to make you happy (silk robes, butter, a shotgun). His brother leaves Jeffers as a Level 5 ("a king among men") to find his roots and personal happiness. Never mind that his quest brings him to pole vaulting and leading a carnival commune in George's backyard.

What's better, to lead a drone existence with no chance of explosion? Or actually LIVING and experiencing emotion and dreams with the possibility that the next flirtation with increased heart rate and blood pressure will kill you instantly?

Dark and edgy. No real "new ground" here. Your basic "submit to your corporate master" film. Your basic "group think and mind control" film. Again, Office Space + 1984 is the mold.

Straight to DVD, but I found it above my HBO score and would have paid Matinee price for this one.