Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
    • Advertise
August 25, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

What Happened To Monday: DVD

What Happened To Monday

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Nexus Factory/Madman

Sometimes the concept is just dumb enough, expectations are sufficiently low and the cast – or certainly the lead – gives their all. So it gets across the line. That’s the case with What Happened To Monday, a by-rote sci-fi thriller/future dystopia that sees birth-rate managed by the tough Child Allocation Bureau (Glenn Close is Nicolette Cayman’s the Bureau’s ice-cold director).

So seven identical sisters – yes! – decide to outwit the system by each taking a day of the week to appear in public as the same single entity: Karen Settmah. Actually the decision was made for them – they grew up only knowing this. Their grandfather (Willem Dafoe, sleepwalking but still with some charm) taught them from birth. We find this out in flashbacks of course.

It’s ludicrous, yes, but Noomi Rapace (you know her from the original Dragon Tattoo movies, and many other things perhaps) works hard here doing seven times the work of a normal role. The sisters are each named after a day of the week – and spend most days of the week in hiding, gathering information; somehow they’ve all formed completely separate identities; they never get to assume these in the real world – they only ever operate as Karen.

So – again – it’s fucking ludicrous really.

But there’s something in this – enough of a grain of a concept, the paranoia, control, surveillance, the cold heart of tech…well we all live with some conspiracy theories now and either fear or ignorance – or fear of ignorance. Or all…

So What Happened To Monday won’t set the night alight, but pick the right time to watch it – it was early on a Sunday morning for me – and you might just dig into it way more than you perhaps thought.

It reminded me of the sci-fi and erotic thrillers I watched in the 90s. It reminded me of several straight-to-TV/straight-to-disc films; the best examples of which of course instantly escape my mind.

This is not meant to be damning with faint praise at all – quite the opposite, faint praise be damned! I rather enjoyed this film. It sat on my shelf for weeks, and months even. And when I plucked up the courage I was duly rewarded.

Some days that’s (more than) enough.
You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with DVD, DVD Review, Film, Film Review, Glenn Close, Movie, Movie Review, Noomi Rapace, Sci-Fi, Tommy Wirkola, What Happened To Monday: DVD, What Happened To Monday?, Willem Dafoe, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron. RSS 2.0 feed.
« Sweetman Podcast: Episode 130 – Bill Manhire
Wellington Film Society: Preview – Manila In The Claws of Light (August 27) »

Popular

  • Charlotte Grimshaw: The Mirror Book
  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • Sweetman Podcast # 253: Margot Pierard
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • Bob Dylan: The Best of The Bootleg Series
  • Revisiting Live at Knebworth (1990)
  • Neil Peart Was The World’s Most Overrated Drummer
  • Poem: Watching Twin Peaks 30 Years Later

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Jon Mcleary Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Ghost of Electricity The Spines The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2021 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press