ALTERED PERCEPTIONS

Rating: 8/10

Director: Jorge Ameer

Writer: Wayne C. Dees

Style: Horror/ Mystery/Sci Fi

Time: 2 hours

Reviewed by Mike Szymanski

This is like an updated version of the comedic and prophetic film “Idiocracy” from 2006. That movie is a Mike Judge cult hit film (which was at first a bomb) and it predicted a great deal of what our lives look like now.

Read a thoughtful analysis of that film here: Idiocracy: a disturbingly prophetic look at the future of America — and our era of stupidity (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/19/idiocracy-a-disturbingly-prophetic-look-at-the-future-of-america-and-our-era-of-stupidity)

Or you can watch the dumbed-down version of the prophecies with a lot more pictures in this story: 17 Ways Idiocracy Has Actually Come True https://www.ranker.com/list/ways-idiocracy-has-come-true/mike-rothschild (Sorry, I had to do that.)

Because you see, the point is that everything has become conspiracy-laden, rife with mistrust and filled with blatant prejudices.

This movie is as prophetic and funny as “Idiocracy,” yet as frightening and dark as “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Oh, and there are a few naked men.

Not surprisingly, the apocalyptic script was written by an actual neurologist, Dr. Wayne Dees, and it includes questions about the mental health system as well as conspiracy theories and environmental ravages.

It’s Spring 2022 and the world seems to be returning back to normal after the Covid pandemic. North Korean leader Kim Jung-un signed a peace treaty with 34 countries and presented water lilies as signs of peace. Within half a year, those 34 countries are faced with a kind of plague that makes people do and say strange things. It often leads to drastic suicides.

For example, B-movie staple actor Eric Roberts has a small role as a crazed hospitalized patient who is 67 years old. The character thinks he is 33 years old and doesn’t recognize his concerned wife. He is over-the-top as he scoffs, “I wouldn’t marry this old lady.”

Another multi-talented star scene in everything is Sally Kirkland who is concerned about her husband of 10 years. Her husband is played by a very handsome Michael Hansen who lets the disease take him to a naked orgiastic murder with lots of blood.

As the illness spreads, so does the increase of bizarre behaviors including mass murders, workplace shootings and gruesome suicides.

There is an evil Republican Senator Ted DeMarcos, played at perfect pitch by actor Danny Fehsenfeld. He has some hidden knowledge about these brains that are atrophying so fast, and he wants to quarantine all black people and homosexuals. He is also an anti-vaxxer of course.

For some reason, the alien from the future must arrive in the nude, much like Arnold Schwarzenegger did in the “Terminator” films, and it doesn’t help the naked man (played by Joseph DeMatteo) get taken any more seriously.

And those in the know who are planning this debacle cackle that: “This will make Jan 6 look like a beauty pageant.”

Some of the most interesting things that happen in the script are not shown during the making of the movie, but they are not ever shown.

It comes across as goofy with some of the over-the-top acting and forced dialogue, but it is as realistic in many other ways.

Th main character we follow is Alex, played by Oran Stainbrook, who has a father and a male lover getting married. The husband, Peter, played Vincent Giovanni, is a wonderful character who do everything to be supportive of Alex, even when others are turning away from him.

The movie won Best Director at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival in 2023, and won the Critic’s Choice Best Cult Classic at the Critic Movie Awards. Look for the film on all streaming platforms.

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