Time is money. This figure of speech, which is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, was used in its literal interpretation as the starting point for the 2011 science fiction thriller “In Time”. In the world shown in it, currencies were replaced by lifetime, which led to the rich living forever and the poor dying early. While the Hollywood production with Justin Timberlake designed a distant dystopia, the German Netflix film “Paradise” is now much closer to our present – and therefore has a more intense effect.
Similar to the British anthology series “Black Mirror”, director Boris Kunz together with his two co-authors Peter Kocyla and Simon Amberger add only a few innovations to the world we know and examine their consequences for society. When the protagonist Max walks through Berlin at the beginning of “Paradise”, gets on the S-Bahn in Tempelhof and finally arrives at the Spreebogen to go to work there, we are conveyed to us some serious changes in architecture, technology and fashion – and yet today’s city is still recognizable.
Max works as a so-called donation manager for the biotech group Aeon. Under the direction of the charismatic Sophie Theissen (played by Iris Berben), the company has developed a lifetime transfer: people can donate years of life through an operation and are financially compensated for it.
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“Paradise” initially turns into a thoughtful love drama
Max’s job is to convince people, most of whom are in financial difficulties, to donate. He was just named employee of the year. He leads a life of luxury with his wife, Elena, a doctor – but then the couple’s apartment burns down and the two get into trouble because Elena put down 38 years of life as security for the home loan, which is now being called in immediately.
While many dystopian films mainly use their thematic basis to get to action or horror interludes as quickly as possible, “Paradise” initially turns into a thoughtful love drama. The dynamic power couple Max and Elena, who were just talking about their joint desire to have children, now have to deal with the fact that Elena is suddenly four decades older.
A modern take on Bonnie and Clyde
The change of actresses – from the young Marlene Tanczik to the older Corinna Kirchhoff – succeeds extremely harmoniously. And main actor Kostja Ullmann also convinces with his acting when he expresses the doubts that Max is gradually having about Aeon’s methods, from which he has only benefited so far. Max and Elena become a modern version of Bonnie and Clyde and even take hostages.
In the end, the chases and gunfights do take center stage in “Paradise”. What is exciting, however, is that the good guys and the bad guys can’t always be clearly distinguished from one another in their actions. All characters walk a moral tightrope. The film doesn’t finally tell us what is acceptable and what is reprehensible, which makes it an entertaining and clever representative of the genre.
Paradise. Feature film, 116 minutes, on Netflix from July 27
4 out of 5 points
2023-07-28 17:31:15
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