LEVEL 16: Dystopian Sci-Fi Worth Checking Out At Least Once
Where most blockbusters spend their time and effort on visuals and unique set pieces, low budget films tend to play with a concept and see how far they can run with it. With no fancy production value or visual effects to entice the viewer, these small films have nothing but the performances and the script to break the mold.
Level 16 is the perfect example of a low budget thriller with a fantastic dystopian concept, but doesn’t exactly play with it as much as I hoped. That being said, there are still plenty of reasons to check it out.
A Familiar but Fascinating Backdrop
The world of Level 16 offers just enough details to keep the viewer guessing, while never falling into some other film’s territory. It shares similar dystopian qualities as The Handmaid’s Tale, and it even has the same all-girls boarding school premise that the South Korean film The Silenced had back in 2015. But the cinematography and the color palette keeps Level 16 original and intriguing to look at. The palette alone would make you think this is a sci-fi film.
Of course, the school in Level 16 is not what it seems. Vivien (Katie Douglas) has just been moved to Level 16 of the school (a sign that she and her classmates have turned sixteen years old) and is reunited with Sophia (Celina Martin), a former classmate… and former friend. Together, they investigate who’s running the school and why they are there.
Director Danishka Esterhazy draws effectively on the location of the school. From start to finish, she keeps the camera “imprisoned” indoors along with the girls. We only see what they see. The hallways look the same. There are surveillance cameras at every corner. Every single day is a drab routine of rubbing makeup cream on their faces (in front of the cameras), cleaning each room, and taking vitamins to keep their bodies healthy. Everything looks dreary, claustrophobic, and suspiciously sinister, which makes for a fascinating contrast against what the school is teaching to the girls –being clean, pure, and perfect.
Great Performances and a Light Musical Score
Douglas and Martin run the show here. While Martin exhibits a girl who has seen some horrifying events in the past, Douglas embodies a girl who started off like all the others, following the rules, but slowly begins to question what is given and said to her all the time. The dialogue is used very sparingly here, mainly because I suspect Esterhazy wants us to get inside Vivien’s head. Each revelation of what’s really going on is presented to us the same time it’s presented to Vivien. Douglas starts off emotionless and obedient like all the other girls, but eventually she becomes a calm, smart, and calculated individual by the end. It’s a carefully crafted and rewarding journey of character growth, thanks to both Esterhazy and Douglas’ sensibilities.
Even the supporting performances by Peter Outerbridge and Sara Canning are worth looking out for. Outerbridge (probably best known for Saw VI) walks a fine line between trustworthy and menacing, especially when his character is the doctor who looks after all the girls. Canning, on the other hand, is definitely channeling an angry Charlize Theron. I could not get that connection out of my head. By the way, that’s definitely a compliment.
A Big Reveal and Questions about a Second Viewing
Where Level 16 runs out of steam is the script. It’s mainly built around the single mystery of what is the school up to. Despite the narrative providing one breadcrumb at a time, the film doesn’t exactly have much substance to keep the story meaningful. A few details keep popping up every once in a while, such as faulty TV programming, and they don’t exactly pay off in ways I expected them to. On the other hand, we get a couple scenes that seem ambiguous at first, but they all build toward the big reveal. But once the pieces do come together and the big reveal finally drops, the film is about to end.
Despite loving the reveal itself, I found the timing of the reveal to be way too late in the film. I expected it to come at the halftime mark. Instead, I got it at the last ten minutes, which almost rendered all that mystery in the beginning less valuable. You finally have your world opened by a large margin to the audience, and you don’t play around with that newfound space? The script took what should’ve been a plot reveal and used it as if it were a twist ending. Talk about a missed opportunity.
This makes it difficult for me to recommend Level 16 on a rewatch. Everything is built around that reveal, making the second viewing a lot more tedious to sit through.
Level 16: An Excellent Short Film in the Body of a Full-Length Feature
Level 16 is an excellent short film trapped inside a pretty good full-length feature. Its shortcomings and over-attention to its big reveal hurt its rewatchability and long-term impact. That being said, Esterhazy’s directing is meticulous and suspenseful, there’s a lovely score by Menalon Music composers Joseph Murray and Lodewijk Vos, and the performances from Douglas and Martin are great. The entirety of Level 16 rests on the relationship between the female leads, while flirting with social norms of femininity and beauty. On that front, it definitely works well enough to warrant a viewing.
Not only am I excited to see what Douglas and Esterhazy do next, but I would actually be excited if they tackle this premise again but with a new story.
Did you see Level 16? What did you think of the film? Share below!
Level 16 was released in limited theaters in the US on March 1, 2019. For all international release dates, click here.
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