ethanauringer The most obvious theme here is TECHNOLOGY. Jenny willingly sends in her physiological evaluation and all requested vitals to an organization which she knows nothing about. We later find out that a younger participant in the program uses this information about Jenny's fears and physiological traits such as her empathy and sympathy against her. She uses this to scare the crap out of Jenny but also gain her trust as Jenny "adopted" Cassandra as a younger sister. Jenny tries to "humanize" Cassandra as she lacks many human traits due to being trapped in an augmented reality education system where she is also deprived of normal human conversations. This brings us to our second theme, EDUCATION. In the opening scene, we see a news interview discussing the state that our education system is in. The anchor listens to a man talk about how our education system in the U.S. is awful compared to those in China and other military power houses. This film really depicted the society we would live in if we adopted those all-informative, social interaction-lacking schools. This interview could also act as a foreshadow for the rest of the film. The school system may have changed in response of a request to increase the complexity of our education system. "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Arial even says the children aren't encouraged to communicate with each other unless it is necessary. That sounds like a joke to me. This is why these kids are so desensitized. The name of the program is actually called the POSTERITY PROJECT. It should be pretty obvious that education is a huge part of this film. Another theme I have discovered is THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY. Jenny is trapped in the virtual world so long, that she fights for her life in it. She doesn't realize that death in an augmented reality world wouldn't result in death in the real world. Maybe if she died in the augmented reality world she'd come back to reality. I think this film relates to the Black Mirror episode Playtest (also on Netflix). The episode Playtest also had a program that used your weaknesses to attack you in your most vulnerable spots, just as Cassandra did to Jenny. Jenny seems to be confused of what is reality and what is augmented reality. The next theme is CURIOSITY. This one is another obvious one. Jenny walks into the Posterity Project and puts on glasses that she hasn't been instructed to put on or even informed about. This starts Jenny's nightmare. Let's hit another theme, HELPLESSNESS. This shower scene which everyone is confused about doesn't relate to the plot at all. It relates to Jenny's soft spot. Helplessness, she knows the feeling so very well. She watched her dad die right in front of her knowing she couldn't do anything to stop it. We see another instance where helplessness is exemplified towards the end of the movie when the chaperones stumble upon what seemed to be a previous chaperone trapped in a locked room. There seems to be a way to get him out as there is a puzzle attached to the door, but Darby and the others find out the hard way that there was no possible way to help the man. This could've also made the augmented reality more "real" for Jenny as this feeling of helplessness has proven itself in the real world as well. Boom, another theme, FALSE SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT. When the 3 chaperones hear the voice over the intercom as soon as they break the ice, the voice uses positive, reinforcing words and phrases such as "Congratulations", and telling the chaperones that they are part of "saving our country's future". Tiggs even creates a sense of false accomplishment by saying being selected for the program makes her feel safe and important. But who knows, the other 2 chaperones could just be a part of the simulation too. The last theme I have found in the film so far is TRUST. Cassandra knows that the best way to gain someone's trust is to relate to them but also completely differ from them if that makes any sense. Familiar is comfortable, but opposites attract.. As soon as the 3 chaperones get put into the simulation, Jenny has to trust the other chaperones because they're the only ones she can relate too. Everything and everyone else is extremely unfamiliar and could be seen as a threat. This was probably in the film to create a sense of comfort for Jenny as it would be one of the most uncomfortable situations she'd ever experience. Cassandra used the method of relating and differing from Jenny that I talked about earlier as Jenny and Cassandra were always the odd ones out. They were always left out from the group. She also differed from Jenny in the way that Cassandra was a genius and Jenny couldn't even imagine what it would be like to live as a child prodigy. In summary, this film has many themes that take time to discover but hold great meaning. Confusing isn't always bad, it just means that you haven't acquired the knowledge to understand or appreciate something yet. Everything you'll every read or watch has great meaning and a purpose behind it. So if you found this movie confusing, watch it again, and again, and again until you've finally found a meaning that relates to you, and share it with people because that is how the education system should work. Our minds should flourish from the generosity and knowledge of others.

Michael Ledo Jenny (Elizabeth Morris) suffered a tragic event as a child involving her dad and a shower, but we really don't get closure as to the details. As an adult, her mom is ill and with bills piling up she accepts a job on the "Prosperity Project" whose goal is the extreme education of children. Jenny, and two others are to monitor the children. They are expensive live-in hall monitors. While at the project they wear "Google" style glasses. Things are very computer and graphic oriented. The children are like machines and learning at a very high and fast level. At 37 minutes into the film, Jenny flashes back to the event and then about at 50 minutes, things start to unravel as the film becomes ultra confusing until the end, which still leaves you thinking.The title is a play on the Goggle ethics slogan, "Don't do evil." Darby (Elliot James Langridge) another fellow glorified hall monitor makes "Star Trek" references like "Kobayashi Maru" where Kirk won an academy exercise by reprogramming the computer. This is a film that might be more interesting the second time through as things start to make sense at the end, including the writer's conversational clues. I am sure I missed half of the techno-weenie stuff.The problem was that the film consisted of mega computer graphics, dark rooms, air duct scares, and a large assortment of colored filters (I think they used every filter in the pack). This is not a horror film, but a sci-fi thriller. The ending does give you some closure, but for me I still had questions. I don't recommend this film for the casual viewer.Guide: F-word. No sex. Male butt nudity.

Darkdaxter Like most reviwers, I was thoroughly confused by the end of the film and decided to watch it again. I still found it entertaining, and kept looking for clues and symbolism and have come up with a hypothesis.First answering some of their questions. In the break room scene before lockdown, they are heating coffee up not making it. Darby could not just stand up because he had no leverage; he kicks the chair away and stands after they remove the duct tape. He was also unconscious from his head wound till they found him. Going by the information on the screen windows, all of these children are "wards of the state," in short orphans. Some have deceased parents or no parents at all. Jenny's virtual apartment is in Los Angeles, so it's reasonable to assume the bunker is there too (also going by the pop-ups). Or at the very least it's in the United States. They could not leave past the burning man (who is actually the guy checking the "elevator camera") because the door was still locked. Lastly, in Darby's death scene, the children are holding him down not hitting him. It still looks like they aren't using any force at all, but it's at least somewhat more plausible.On to my hypothesis. I think the major problem in the writing/directing is that everything is rushed. There is no distinct time marker between various days, but I suspect they spent a decent amount of time underground (probably a couple weeks to a month). They tried to squeeze too much into the movie and ended up with an inferior product. For example, I feel that Tiggs is a reference to Antigone, or at least her name alone ("worthy of one's parents"), and Darby of John Nelson Darby one of the fathers of dispensationalism (the idea that God tests us differently throughout each period).The opening scene makes more sense if you accept the following assumption, Jenny is an orphan sent to this place back in 1980/90 (then the surroundings make sense), after essentially leading a murderer (her mother) to her father. I expect the VR room is the real exit and one of the ways to win (She would never leave if she visited her mother). The hidden portion of the bunker gives Jenny the transport experience and leads to the elevator. I believe Darby isn't real at all, rather he is a manifestation of her father that she continuously leads to his "death." Tiggs is her mother, whom she stubbornly trusts until everything is taken away (and who supposedly dies in a cell somewhere).The main problem here is that she shakes Tigg's hand and hugs Nina, something outside the scope of visual hallucination. Whether these are just strong suggestions or actors remains to be seen. But I suspect that at least part of Tigg's scenes aren't real either as we see her throat slit on one side of the air vent, and her dragged away on the other. The other way to win would be to actually follow the rules and not touch or interact with the children (people who do so are removed). As for why they punished her, I think she was probably one of the first students back in the 80's. Having failed and with smarter minds and new technology, she was an easy target for ridicule. The psychic communication allowed them to read Jenny's mind and discover her secret, demonizing her further. They bullied her more and more until finally taking control of the facility, wherein they delight in torturing her. After all, if she was smart enough, she (an adult) would pass the test!The most frustrating thing about this movie is that no one checks visual irregularities with their hands or ever takes off their visors. With a longer run-time or tighter focus, this movie could've been a lot better.P.S. There's also the possibility that each time there is a new real "Darby" and that she is literally sentencing someone to die each cycle.

Bloodmane 'Stupid' sums it up. I won't even waste time trying to explain why. It simply is. It was one of those films that I keep watching just in the hope that it will improve. In this instance, it didn't. I'd sooner re-watch Mill of the Stone Women or the 4-D Man.Eighty-two wasted minutes of my life I'll never get back. Really struggling to find anything good to say about it. Who sets up a research facility like that? (Don't want to include spoilers here.) This was supposed to be built around augmented reality. Can't say I thought they'd done even a poor job of it.Stay away. Just stay away.