LX 2048 ** USA 2020 Dir: Guy Moshe. 103 mins
In a near-future world, the threatening rays of the Sun have turned deadly, causing widespread death and destruction to Earth forcing the surviving inhabitants into their homes. Forced to utilize VR technology to stave off the toxicity of their daytime environments, Adam Bird (James D’Arcy) grows increasingly concerned about the lack of personal interaction the situation has caused with his wife Reena (Anna Brewster) and their children, eventually taking it to Dr. Maple (Juliet Aubrey) a psychiatrist. Thinking it may not be a mental experience but a physical one, a study finds that he won’t live much longer due to a heart condition which even a potential meeting with genius tech developer Donald Stein (Delroy Lindo) may not be able to fix. Facing his own mortality in a cold, lifeless world, he struggles to find a way to leave his legacy in the time he has left.
In the end, “LX 2048” is an absolute struggle to get through. Knowing that this is a good ten-to-fifteen minutes too long is the biggest culprit, taking a scenario that has no business being this long and expanding it outward due to Moshe’s plodding direction. The first half of the film feels like it takes forever to even muster something resembling energy, taking the viewer right out of the film with endless stretches showing how Bird is dissatisfied with how his family is adjusting to the world around them. Not only that, but there’s no enthusiasm from anyone here about picking up the tempo as nearly everyone involved is flat and lifeless, furthering the descent into outright boredom at times. That’s a real shame, as the story about what’s going on involving his quest to find the humanity in this kind of situation is oddly resonating as the current global pandemic forcing everyone into their homes and an increased reliance on technology similar to what’s here could’ve been enjoyable. That’s where it shines, but at the moment it’s just too lifeless to do anything else.
Review by Don Anelli
LX 2048 IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON