A tale of a dystopian future where an unknown alien group have colonised the earth and humans struggle to fight back.A tale of a dystopian future where an unknown alien group have colonised the earth and humans struggle to fight back.A tale of a dystopian future where an unknown alien group have colonised the earth and humans struggle to fight back.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Martinez
- (as Ryan Angilley)
- Director
- Writers
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOats is the name of the production studio created by feature film director writer and producer Neill Blomkamp. Oats Studio will release what Blomkamp calls experimental short sci-fi films, the first of which is Rakka.
- Quotes
Narrator: [narrating]
[first lines]
Narrator: We were once mankind. We were humanity. And now we're no more than pests. Vermin. They came here to exterminate us. They took our history and culture. They covered our landmarks in dying humanity. The wale of the dying carried for miles.
Narrator: They're building some kind of breeding facility for those who survive. People who have defected say it's worse than hell. Humans becoming some kind of surrogate incubators for the alien young.
Narrator: They killed us in waves when they first arrived. They built these mega structures that spew methane, manufacturing their atmosphere. They've sewn their crops, nothing like our plant life, raising the global temperature causing our cities to flood. They waged war on earth. They set fire to our forests. It's already hard to breathe; impossible to breathe if you're close to the stacks.
Narrator: Rats, insects, humans. They hack into our psyche, into our minds, paralyzing us - taking control of the cerebra and the limbic system, rendering us as slaves. We've been able to design a brain barrier that protects us from their influence. They know we can't produce enough of these for everyone, that it's just a matter of time before the entire planet is theirs.
Narrator: But we are survivors. Scrounging enough to eat, gathering enough morale to fight. I wonder if deep down each person knows we are already dead? I wonder if only one sick primordial instinct keep marching us forward aimlessly? Every rational thought tells us it's over. Every vile deceptive chemical in motion tells us it isn't.
Narrator: We are told a different story by our politicians.
- ConnectionsEdited into Oats Studios: Rakka (2017)
The narrative is not really where that occurs, because it is a sci- fi idea that has been done many times with different beasts or robots in the lead role. However the world that the film creates in a short time is fascinating – from the ideas around the aliens, the nature of the resistance, the experiments conducted, and of course just how impressive and committed the visual elements are. All of this is polished very well, leading the film to feel much bigger than it is. The downside of the short running time is that it perhaps doesn't fully satisfying – in particular I thought the ending could have been a bit less open than it was – not for the wider story, but just for this 20 minutes.
In terms of that polish; visually it is very impressive, with great design, sound, music, and atmosphere. The effects are impressive (not "for a short film" but just impressive), and of course having someone like Sigourney Weaver in your lead role can only help. There was one element that gave me pause though, and it was the way the film put the humans into the role of terrorists but yet didn't make that horrific or seem like a terrible but unavoidable cost. It is not an unique idea (Battlestar Galactica did it in its third season), but here the imagery is so clear (beheading, suicide vests) that it is an unavoidable meaning and connection to groups like ISIS, that it is a weird feeling that the film just lets it happen.
This aside, it is an impressive sci-fi short, with lots of polish, ideas, atmosphere, and potential.
- bob the moo
- Jul 14, 2017
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1