Mad Genius is a sci-fi thriller about a young genius who attempts to ‘hack the human mind’ in order to fix humanity.
The human mind is a favorite playground for trippy sci-fi thrillers, with a long list of mental mind games packing digital shelves these days, most either hopelessly shallow big action visual effects-driven blockbusters or maddeningly complex indie arthouse projects that take several university degrees to wrap your head around. Writer/director Royce Gorsuch‘s latest entry in the lot leans more toward the latter with plenty of hoops to jump though in understanding what’s actually going on, which admittedly is part of the appeal in watching movies like this, and though there’s genuinely some very clever things happening, pushes itself into a dark corner probably only a few will find worth visiting.
Mason Wells (Chris Mason) is a hacker, one of those low level goons who cause general mischief but not much else. He’s a smart guy and wants to make his mark, believing that he’s been going about it all wrong. It’s not systems and programs he needs to be hacking into, it’s the human brain, realizing that the root of all evil is in fact born in the mind, and therefore, to stop it, one must control it. Setting out to map the entirety of the human brain, he searches for the ‘original spark’ of life, hoping to rewrite our destiny. Pushing him to extremes in advancing this project is Finn (Scott Mechlowicz), a projection of his ego, a splinter of his personality who is highly aggressive, who tempts Mason to the dark side of this journey while tapping into the more feral aspects of being human. There’s also the lovely Sawyer (Spencer Locke), a spirited young woman who drifts in and out of the story, keeping Mason (and us) wondering if she is real or not.
Clearly, there’s some good ideas here and Gorsuch does manage to flesh a few out to some satisfaction, even as most feel a little untapped. In his chase for glory, Mason comes upon another hacker named Eden (Faran Tahir), a psychopath with a strange electronic glove that emits a kind of chaotic pulse wave that mucks up the brain, he ironically whistling as he murders. He’s out to steal Mason’s work and use it to destroy humanity, leaving a trail of dead hackers in his path, looking more like a second string comic book super villain as he does. That’s maybe intentional, but it’s easily the goofiest part of a story that is full of all kinds of weirdness that playfully dances about a number of themes from Pinocchio to Alice in Wonderland to The Matrix and more.
That all sounds like its got loads of potential, but more often than not, Mad Genius flits about for too long with its own distractions, keeping it too tame to have greater impact. It’s message is purposefully obscured, even as it repeats its intention throughout, but Gorsuch waters down the violence, the sex, and the overall commentary as it doles out its otherwise great science fiction.
Thankfully, it’s with that science fiction that Mad Genius finds it best footing, with a lot of cool imagery and ideas that build to a stronger ending than beginning, one that will certainly challenge its audience. While I might question a little of how the film gets to its end, there’s no denying a stunning finale that ties it all together, or well, at least brings all the threads to one place and leaves it to us to tie it up how we choose. For that alone, Mad Genius earns its place.
Mad Genius will be available on VOD and on Demand July 3, 2018 from Clay Epstein’s Film Mode Entertainment.