I just finished watching Paranoia 1.0. While this film is not going on my list of all time favorite films, I did find it very entertaining. The filmmakers have nothing to be ashamed of. I was particularly struck by the similarities between this film and Orson Welles' 1962 film of Kafka's The Trial (Le Procès). The Romanian locations do for Paranoia some of what the Yugoslavian locations did for the Trial. Paranoia gives a cyberpunk angle on the Kafkaesque theme of the internalization of social structure, particularly the mentality of consumerism. Although Kafka did not explicitly address consumerism, I think he might if he was alive and writing in the 21st century. The sub-themes of sexual guilt and infection are very much from Kafka. And the police are especially Kafkaesque. I also detected the influence of David Cronenberg, especially his media-related films Videodrome and eXistenZ. I think there was also a little bit of Kubrick influence. I saw this in the neighbor's AI project which sort of a existential, postmodern, frankensteinian, Edvard Munchian version of 2001's Hal and AI's David. He goes "Aaahhhhh ..." You might say the same thing after watching this movie, especially if literary/philosophical sci fi/fantasy is not your bag.

I recently viewed this at the Sundance Film Fest. I have an overall positive opinion of the film. The semi-futuristic world created is a very unique and interesting one. The photography in the film is outstanding. Very deep reds and greens give a feel comparable to a Fincher film. Lance Henriksen and Udo Kier give wonderful performances. Sisto and Unger are better than adequate. The story builds up very well to the explanation of the odd behavior of Simon J (Sisto) and his fellow apartment building dwellers. The explanation, however, is where I find a problem.

**Spoiler**

It is revealed that the mysterious packages appearing in Simon's apartment, though they appear to be empty, actually contain tiny "nanomites" that enter his body and begin to manipulate his behavior; most notably, these mites force him to buy and consume large quantities of Nature Fresh Milk. The conspiracy of forced consumption is developed more, but I couldn't help feel like the whole concept was a little trivial.

The directors, the D.P. (Chris Soos), Deborah Unger, and Jeremy Sisto were present for a Q&A following the screening. Some interesting things mentioned: The directors each have a past of making commercials; the D.P. has directed multiple music videos for Sigur Ros (they have at least one song in the movie); it was all filmed in Bucharest; at Jeremy Sisto's suggestion (he is also producer), the budget was not disclosed to the audience.

Well it's finally been seen in the UK! Others reviewers have gone into vast detail so I'll leave that but stay away from matrix comparisons in terms of overall movie feel. Yes there's a computer programme affecting the lives of human inhabitants or at least so the main character believes but it's gritty and more cerebral. Think 1984 meets dark city on the budget of Pi! (Well OK a bit more cash than that, but not much!) I loved Lance Henrikson and Udo Kier in cameo roles, they introduce some lighter moments in the film and do so to good effect. Overall its not one for the masses but sci-fi and genre fans will appreciate it. Overall I enjoyed it and it was worth braving bank holiday crowds in central London. Finally the comments in regard to frederik Pohl mentioned in another's review are right on the money