Scoring some impressive early reactions at the Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness strand, Ilya Naishuller's Hardcore appears set to become one of the more talked-about films in the coming months thanks to its commitment to POV shooting and storytelling. Check it out below, but be aware of NSFW violence and the dangers of googling “hardcore” if you want to find out more.
While films in the past (such as Doom) and the odd, ill-fated found footage movie have dabbled with the idea, Hardcore embraces the idea of video game-style first-person shooters to tell the story of Henry (who the audience “plays” through the technique), brought back from the dead by his scientist wife Estelle (Haley Bennett) as a cyborg.
As if that isn’t enough of a bombshell, he’s soon under attack from the goons of Danila Kozlovsky’s Akan, who kidnaps Henry’s other half as part of his megalomaniacal plan. And Henry will have to get her back while battling a seemingly endless army of mercenaries through the unfamiliar city of Moscow. His only possibly ally is the quirky Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), who will try to guide him on this mission.
Writer/director/punk rocker Naishuller, whose short film Bad Motherf****r (see that below) caught the eye of Timur Bekmambetov and landed him a deal to make a movie. Hardcore is the result, and should quickly pick up interest from international distributors.