Poster of The Congress

The Congress

Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi

Director: Ari Folman

Release Date: July 24, 2014

Where to Watch

I watched The Congress because it received rave reviews, but if I had known two things about it, I would have never watched it. First, the main character is Robin Wright, but not really. I love Douglas Coupland, the author, but when he became a character in one of his books, it left me cold. Same thing happened in Stephen King’s work. Unless this narrative device is used in a humorous self-deprecating way, I hate it. Spoiler alert: the Robin Wright portrayed in The Congress was obviously never in House of Cards and is at a personal and career crisis. Second, the film becomes animation after 40-60 minutes. I hated it when Fringe did it. I wish there was a rating system to let you know not to watch the film if you don’t do drugs. I don’t find it visually dazzling or stimulating. I find it tedious and excruciating. The Congress wants to be Philip K. Dick, but just isn’t. Even giving me a shocking dystopian world couldn’t persuade me to like The Congress. The Congress is so heavy handed with its deliberation of free choice, experience, interaction, perception, identity, value, commodification that it makes Chris Nolan seem subtle. If I had to say something nice about The Congress, it has great casting, particularly Danny Huston as a new type of vampire. I would recommend this film to adolescents or college students interested in philosophy.

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