Well that is putting it mildly now isn't it? The answer is yes to that rhetorical question. The beginning is laying the foundation or at least tells us with what sort of individual we are dealing with. So it may not be the easiest sell for a main character (having empathy for him, all considering),but at least we know. Something that cannot be said about other characters in this.

And is is easy to be duped. With a mirror scene of the one we see at the beginning the movie gives us an evolution - or devolution I reckon. Not an easy movie to watch and very daring in a lot of regards. But human nature can be wicked. Interesting story no matter if or you agree with what is happening or not ...

Only a few minutes after watching this film, I thought about Sid Lumet's atmosphere and topics all over the years. Of course, it was decades ago, Internet did not exist yet, but the NY director could have given us such a complex, brilliant analysis of the cruel and modern world, a world of manipulation and cynism, a world of ruthlessness and ambition where no matter the means, only the results count. Not for all audiences though being too intellectual. The perfect kind of feature that makes you think long after viewing. I prefer watching such a movie instead a Christopher Nolan's one. Very disturbing.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - please, please, Netflix - stop dubbing action films! It doesn't work. These dreadful, mid-Atlantic accents from mediocre, glorified, voice-over artistes delivered with such a faux sense of intensity merely managed here to rob the film of much of the subtly that this quite clever technological thriller had to offer. Also, as I'm on a rant - the frequent, and important use of on-screen communication, so important in building the plot, were not subtitled either and so much of the film's Polish text washed over me and I spent way too much time trying to guess what was driving "Tomasz" (the really quite good Maciej Musialowski) down the path of an increasingly Narcissistic psychopath seeking acceptance - at any cost! This is a well constructed, written and delivered modern day adaptation of the adage about knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, and Jan Komasa and Mateusz Pacewicz have their finger on the pulse for much of this rather poignant, if intellectually depressing, story that sends some pretty clear messages about how future generations of our race may well treat with each other on these rather shallow, vacuous, bases. It's curious that given the rather stark choices being made, both socially and politically, in Poland recently that this film ought to emanate from there - and that just adds a bit more pack to it's punch: how discerning are we when it comes to what we read/create on social media?