Paradise is a German dystopian science fiction movie, now streaming on Netflix. Directed by Boris Kunz, the premise of the movie revolves around the discovery that years of life can be transferred from one person to another. This process is monetised by the AEON corporation. A terrorist organisation – Adam – led by Lilith seeks to kill all who benefit from the AEON de-aging.
S P O I L E R S
Max Toma, the main character of Paradise, starts out the movie as a top donation officer for AEON. His wife Elena is a doctor. Then, through a confluence of unlikely coincidences, Elena is forced to ‘donate’ 38 years of her life, leaving her in her sixties by the end of the procedure. Max appears to have the support of his boss, AEON CEO Sophie Theissen but subsequently discovers that Theissen has benefited from Elena’s 38 years!
Thus begins the main quest of Paradise as Max mistakenly kidnaps Theissen’s daughter Marie – thinking she was Sophie – and then together with Elena head to Lithuania to get an illegal procedure done to regain Elena’s lost years. The couple are pursued by AEON goons and there is a shootout, killing Lilith but Max and Elena manage to escape with Marie in tow. Max changes his mind about the entire endeavour but Elena forces him at knife point to get out of the vehicle before she makes contact with the doctor for the illegal procedure.
Now, the third act is handled very poorly. After the shootout, it’s not really clear as to what went down. Also, the switch between Max and Elena in terms of the morality of what they were doing is rather jarring. Presumably, Max’s quest ends when he gets out of the vehicle but there is no climax that leads to that plot point. Then, there is a time jump that passes for some kind of resolution. Elena is pregnant – by some other man – we see Max spying on her before he hops into a vehicle with fellow Adam members, as they are depicted about to attack AEON headquarters. Huh?
In the final analysis, Paradise wastes its scifi premise and turns midway into a half-baked chase movie. Disappointing overall.
Watch now on Netflix
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