Review of Creative Control (2016) by Matt C — 21 Mar 2016

Technology is topic that's both so easy to point at and relevant to discuss. However, a movie coming out in 2016 needs to have more ideas than what could have been executed thirty years ago. Coming off of the heels of movies such as Her and Ex Machina, sci-fi movies about how technology impacts people's relationships needs to really have a novel central idea.

Creative Control has very good cinematography, but its technical aspects are really the only place that the movie exceeds any set standards. This is a movie with concepts and commentary that would have been a lot more interesting in the '80s or '90s, but nowadays its themes just feel like easy targets.

The movie follows an ad executive (director/co-writer Benjamin Dickinson) who uses his company's hardware--a sort of virtual reality pair of glasses of sorts--to have what could pass for an affair with his best friend's girlfriend.

That's pretty much the entire movie at its core, and it could have been a short film. There are some striking moments that make good use of lighting and the entire movie has great black-and-white cinematography that doesn't feel gimmicky, but again, the successes of Creative Control are basically just that of its aesthetics.

The movie's integration of visual effects is pretty seamless and looks good for what must of been a very small budget, but what really takes center stage is how oddly uninteresting this movie is. The movie is part drama and part satire, neither of which quite work.

The characters are pretty thinly drawn only to be partially redeemed by some pretty good supporting performances, and the satire, again, is nothing new. The movie takes shots at advertising and yoga hipsters, but it either doesn't fit with the surrounding drama or just feels half-baked.

As a result of the uninteresting and rather unsympathetic characters, the movie is boring. It's only 97 minutes, but it begins to feel long after just 40 minutes, only occasionally saved by some strong visuals.

But without an engaging story or characters that are even entertaining to watch, nothing matters as much as it should. There's also an underlying sense of smugness brought on by the lead actor/director/co-writer, who falls victim to a lot of movies starring and directed by the same person: it feels like it's made to show how cool he is.

By the time that it ends, which is both very sudden and too late, Creative Control doesn't do much of anything. It looks good, but--pardon the cliche--looks aren't everything, and if the movie could actually say something new, there might be an actual impact.

It has some brief moments, but it's forgettable. Shoutout to the cinematography and visual effects crew, but as for Dickinson, he needs to get over himself. Using classical music doesn't automatically make something smart, and restating what's been said before with different people doesn't mean that something new is actually being said.

4.4/10, lame, two thumbs down, below average, etc.