Noah Hutton’s Lapsis is a clever commentary on life in a profit-hungry world. Spurred on by the need to pay for his sick brother’s healthcare, Ray (Dean Imperial) reluctantly gets a job at a quantum cabling company, trekking into the forest for days at a time, racing against other employees and futuristic automated ‘carts’. Through his friendship with long-time employee Anna (Madeline Wise) he soon begins to understand the weight of what he has taken on.
The selling of exploitative labour packaged up in friendly corporate videos and conventions, enticing potential employees in with the promise of freedom in Hutton’s world is eerily reminiscent of the American Dream. CBLR employees are promised flexibility, fun and the opportunity to work their way up the ladder. That comes with a price as Ray soon finds out. Employees are fitted with GPS tracking ‘medallions’ that monitor their productivity and movement. Everything is totally controlled – the antithesis to what the job proclaims. And of course, there’s the reason Ray applied for the job in the first place; to be able to afford the extortionate cost of his brother’s treatment. This drama screams America. Its ability to unashamedly point out the flaws in capitalism and in US society as a whole is what makes this film a worthy watch.
With a strong concept and engaging storyline to a point, the film’s downfall lies in its underdeveloped characters (It felt like Anna was there to simply advance Ray’s storyline) and floundering conclusion. The failure to tie up a lot of loose ends left me unsatisfied and hungry for more. The intricate world and the story that had been building up and up deserved a more gratifying end. That said, I do believe that Lapsis is worth a watch – especially for fans of Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You.
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Reviewed by Laura Mannix