The Man With the Magic Box

Director - Bodo Kox (Television Theater, The Girl from the Wardrobe)

Starring - Olga Boladz (DNA, The Border), Piotr Polak (Boys with Butterflies, Apocalypse), and Sebastian Stankiewicz (The Plagues of Breslau, Shameless)

Release Date - 2017

Genre - Sci-fi/Thriller

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've been playing a lot pf Pubg recently and put movies on the back burner for a bit.  I'll never get caught up on reviews and I've started to come to terms with that and rather than stressing I've decided to play some games and enjoy myself.  Several days back I watched Rondo and enjoyed myself for the most part and recently took a little break from gaming to watch another Artsploitation release.  This time I went with the 2017 sci-fi thriller The Man with the Magic Box.  I want to once again thank Artsploitation for sending this one my way to check out.

     The film follows Adam (Polak) who can't remember anything about his past and takes a job cleaning an office complex.  He is allowed to live in an abandoned building secretly and is trying to make sense of his dreams when he sparks up an unusual relationship with one of the employees at the office he cleans.  As he searches for his old memories with the help of a time traveling radios, she is forced to help him while suspiciously watching the for authorities who is keeping tabs on him.

     I went into this completely ignorant as to what it was about.  The artwork for the film did not paint that great of a picture but once the film started I found myself completely enthralled.  Sadly, the story was not as enticing as the visuals were.  The acting in this one is solid for the most part.  Some of the characters, mostly supporting roles, are more entertaining than the film's protagonists.  Honestly, the film's leads do a solid job but their characters are not that fun to watch.  In fact, I think the film would have been much more entertaining if it followed Sebastian more.  The story for this one has plenty of promise but the confusing order in which it plays out and the editing makes it a little difficult to follow.  I can understand a film trying to set itself apart from others like it but giving viewers a more linear story to follow would have made this movie leagues better than what we got.  Finally, if you are looking for the red stuff you will be surely disappointed.  The film is beautifully shot with some amazing cinematography but it stays true to it's sci-fi roots. Overall, The Man with the Magic Box has an interesting plot but the delivery makes it a bit of a rough watch.  The movie is exceptionally beautiful but the story is a quick turn off.  The film does have some redeeming qualities that makes it worth at least one watch but I don't see any rewatch value.