RATING: A-

Studio Dome presents a Radragon production in association with Goldheart Producciones Audiovisuales. Directed by Den Kryuchkov. Produced by Mila Rozanova, Bruna Rubio, Kirill Stepanov, and Pavel Tsarvoulanov. Written by Den Krychkov and Olga Loyanich. Cinematography by Danila Stepanov. Edited by Serik Beyseu and Den Kryuchkov.

Stars Matt Testro, Stephanie Gil, Eric Goode, Duane Henry, Joan Pedrola, Anuar Beno, Angela Arellano, Angel Cobes, and Brian Austin Green.

From the director of Russian Raid and The Healing (formerly The Whirlpool) comes this sci-fi thriller that involves both VR and AI in both a positive and negative light.

In a dystopian future, the quarantined Martin is a programmer who has longed to reunite with his girlfriend Teresa. The only one Martin can rely on is his AI assistant, Enty. When Martin finds himself playing a VR game in which he is constantly killed, he soon learns the truth about what happened to Teresa. Teresa has been encased in a cocoon that serves as a virtual prison.

As Martin tries to find a way to rescue Teresa, he starts to reminisce about their relationship. He soon realizes that there is a way to get her out and that is to play the game again. However, Martin finds himself being constantly killed and soon learns that when he gets hurt, he can feel a portion of the pain in real time.

If there is a filmmaker who is proving himself to define versatility, it is Den Kryuchkov. At this rate, he will be the next Takashi Miike in terms of the spectrum of genres he is working with. From his martial arts action film Russian Raid to the folk horror film The Whirlpool, now known as The Healing, Kryuchkov now delves into the dystopian sci-fi genre with this tale of a programmer who is determined to save his girlfriend from a virtual prison.

Matt Testro is great as Martin, our programmer who is determined to get out of his loneliness when he discovers that his girlfriend, who he thought disappeared after an argument, is revealed to be in a crystallized cocoon, bringing Attack on Titan vibes when the character of Annie Leonhart is crystallized after her initial fight against Eren in the first season.

We see in flashbacks how the relationship between Martin and Stephanie Gil’s Teresa starts all lovey-dovey until her gaming begins to cause a rift as Martin gets jealous over the AI characters in Teresa’s world. This is something that today, shows the impact of the gaming world and the real world with the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI.

The cool thing about the film is that we get to see the VR game from a first-person point-of-view, and when it begins, when the main character is killed, the screen flashes “dead”. We see Martin take on various personas and characters throughout the film when he’s in the gaming world, a fascinating concept. However, as the film progresses, Martin discovers that the more he plays, he learns that he feels real pain when he supposedly “dies” in the virtual world. Think of a season one Sword Art Online vibe to things here.

The game itself is controlled by the dystopian government, with him getting constant warnings that his constant attempts to rescue Teresa will lead to something dangerous if he doesn’t stop. Brian Austin Green makes a cameo here as the head of security and makes the most of it.

KILL/SAVE is a really good film that meshes the virtual world and the real world with a dystopian edge to things. Once again, Den Kryuchkov delivers with some stunning visuals and a story that has some wild twists and turns, driven by a great performance by Matt Testro.

The film is released on Digital on November 3.