June 24 2021, 22:57

I decided to watch the Russian series “Better than Humans.” Apparently, the goal was to create cyberpunk, but cheaper and dumbed down 😉 clearly aimed at an American audience. Like, there are half-gallon milk cartons in the fridge, cereal for breakfast, people living in houses in Moscow, picnicking on a tiny lawn in a folder, all brands in English.

And then the plot reaches the point where they need to show a cemetery, where the little son of one of the characters is buried. And the character stands with a contemplative look, gazing at the cemetery.

In the first image, it’s a Moscow cemetery – a screenshot from the film. Of course, I recognized it and googled the original (the second picture). It’s the most famous cemetery in the USA, the military cemetery in Arlington, where war veterans since 1865, Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and astronauts are buried.

Apparently, the director envisioned Russia’s future very oddly. Moreover, according to the plot, robots are manufactured in China, and the Cronos company purchases them for the domestic market, not quite understanding how they work. The only thing reminding the viewer that it’s not old-fashioned is the holographic semi-transparent displays (who thought that was convenient?) and mobile phones built into arms. Although not always – sometimes mobiles are just mobiles, but transparent (is that convenient???). And all this against the backdrop of early 2000s quadcopters and carburetor cars that periodically fail to start. The whole plot revolves around the super corporation Cronos purchasing a new android model from China, and the model escaping. The entire movie is about searching for her to show to a minister, otherwise, the company will collapse, and the head will be ousted. The model resists, she has a family. I don’t know what kind of nonsense people concoct these scenarios. And other directors shoot it like this. And these are directors who were educated with films like Kin-dza-dza, Solaris, and Stalker. And yet, it’s considered somewhat successful. Because the rest — is just plain bad, but this — not entirely.