‘The Correction Unit’ VOD Review
Stars: Sonny Middleton, Bella Ramsey, Ziad Abaza, Elleese Bradshaw, Kristy Smedley, Jonny Phillips | Written and Directed by Derry Shillitto
Written and directed by Derry Shillitto, The Correction Unit is a sci-fi horror flick about data harvesting, mind control, and the pretence of rehabilitation.
Shawn (Sonny Middleton) finds himself in Brookfield’s Young Offenders’ Institute, his plain white room as empty as his prospects. But he’s offered a choice: three months at an AI school where nTrac (voiced by Bella Ramsey) records his every emotion, movement, and thought, or continue to rot in a prison cell. Shawn, like the handful of other teenagers we see in the film, chooses nTrac, though he has no idea what he’s really signing up for.
The Correction Unit is very much a low-budget movie, but Shillitto does a lot with what he has, especially considering it’s a sci-fi horror film set in the very near future. Ubiquitous LED signs and somewhat futuristic weapons are the only real indications that we’re not quite in the present day. Well, that and the fact that nTrac is beyond what we currently have in terms of AI and VR technology.
Nice hypnotic cinematography combined with meditative music lulls us into almost trusting this tech at first, even though we know something sinister is behind it. Other touches, like the orderlies, who appear to be in a sort of trance and have the ability to become ninja-like when needed, serve to make The Correction Unit an almost surreal experience. But things like some of the gorgeous nature shots during some of the teenagers’ VR therapy sessions keep the thing grounded enough so that we’re not in a completely Lynchian experience.
The bad guy, because there has to be a bad guy, James (Ziad Abaza), is so transparently the villain from his first appearance that he might as well have a moustache that he twirls as he talks. This is not the fault of Abaza, however, who does his best with the material he was given. Fortunately, he’s really the only character that’s as one-dimensional and transparent. The acting is solid throughout, especially considering the age of the average actor. There are over a dozen teenage actors here, and I’m pretty sure Shillitto got actual teenagers for the parts. None of them look like adults trying to pass as teenagers. The cast act their hearts out, and it’s really a joy to watch. It’s nicely diverse, too, representing a cross-section of working-class UK youth.
As the film goes on, we see that nTrac is not only another data-mining operation, but one with the extra-sinister goal of breaking the kids down to build them up into something new, something that’s supposedly a net good for society. There’s a sense of Orwellian dread throughout. But, then, doesn’t the idea of changing someone for the good almost always come with sinister undertones attached? Is there any amount of manipulation of the human mind that’s acceptable for the greater good? The Correction Unit asks these questions and answers them in both mundane and surprising ways.
As obvious as the film’s conclusion is, it still serves as a dire warning about the direction we’re headed in this age of data unregulated AI. Artificial intelligence is here. Now, how the hell do we use it correctly, while somehow managing to keep a shred of our humanity? If nothing else, The Correction Unit realises that this new world of ours probably won’t come with a happy ending.
***½ 3.5/5
The Correction Unit is available on digital platforms now.
