Director: Tino Navarro, David Rebordao.
Starring: Cian Barry, Alix Wilton Regan, Nik Xhelilaj, Pedro Granger, Christopher Goh, Genevieve Capovilla, Dafne Fernandez, Reuben-Henry Biggs, Cloudia Swann, Rutger Hauer.
Running Time: 103 minutes
Certificate: 18
With whitewashed sets, an 80s electro score and the presence of Rutger Hauer, RPG or REAL PLAYING GAME, sets the mood of being a BLADE RUNNER homage, or at least one set in a futuristic world. This Portuguese sci-fi thriller is delightfully complex while at the same time using a THE HUNGER GAMES style plot of elimination, while adding brain too. We find Rutger Hauer as an ageing man intent on staying young, he enters a game where he can choose his own avatar, restoring his youthful presence. Inside the game he discovers 9 others, each of whom has taken on a younger body and maybe even a different race or sex. They are each charged with having to kill each other off, however, they must also identify their true identity from a list of possible candidates.
While dealing with ideas of ageing and what people will do for youth, RPG also has a fascinating premise to play with. Simple killing is not an option, as being unable to identify their true identity after the act could result in your own death. This allows for a good amount of character development and mind games, with nobody being who they appear to be. As an audience member it becomes fun and thrilling to try and work out which person is really the actress and who is the dictator or strict catholic priest. Like classic tales of survival, people find themselves in bizarre circumstances and act differently, but can they truly hide who they are?
The film does take a while to get going though, and unfortunately it takes time and patience to accommodate the actors. Many of the actors are speaking in their second language, which clearly shows, while those speaking in their native tongue often suffer from poor line delivery. If one were to be nice, it could be suggested that this ties in with the plot with everyone inside a virtual reality. The plot overpowers any poor performance though, even if some of the dialogue is laughably bad. Apparently, knowing about Moses, God, and the burning bush, equates to “knowing the bible well.”
RPG works well within its limits and is smart enough to know that its content is where its strengths lie. The simple setting of a disused building allow for more verbal conflicts and mind games throughout the core cast, and their is shocking intensity when kills happen and decisions are made. RPG is a film that shows a lot of promise and could perhaps return in the future in a more polished and better executed way.
[usr=3]RPG is out on DVD on 8th September.
