Poster of Repo! The Genetic Opera

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Horror, Musical, Sci-Fi

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Release Date: November 20, 2008

Where to Watch

I’m not necessarily recommending Repo! The Genetic Opera, but despite the Marilyn Manson/Evanescense aesthetic, the plethora of gore, violence, profanity and mixed quality of performance, it worked for me, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it in the movie theater if given the opportunity. Repo! The Genetic Opera is so committed to its vision & theme that you just have to surrender & follow its rhythm. I loved the narrative structure-the way that the audience was given back story through comic book flashbacks; the use of the dystopian futuristic technology to create surrealistic, heart-stopping emotional moments (any scene with Blind Mags and Shilo); and the classic narrative device of the main characters’ story spilling into a performance on stage for an audience within the movie. Loved the idea that the disease of cruelty infected villain’s family & may explain the spontaneous demise of society–a genetic predisposition rotting society from within and turning those that remain into grotesque monsters that reflect their souls. Despite being repelled by this environment, the main villain constantly tries to replicate it in those who are not yet infected with mixed results. Anthony Stewart was magnificent-believably melding gentle nature with cruel, murderer (Giles/Ripper, anyone). Fave song & scene: “Chase the Morning” by Sarah Brightman. Only negative is that Paul Sorvino will now be encouraged to keep doing this type of performance, which didn’t work for me here or in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet–a movie that I otherwise loved.

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