Review of The Man from Earth: Holocene

Many of the low reviews for this film are venomous, desperate and childish, that it would seem, the point the film makes goes straight over their heads. And that point is "reality". Yes reality is a disappointment, anyone that's lived past the age of 40 knows this all too well. Life's a b*tch and reality sucks. And I believe that's what upset people the most about this film. It went in a direction that hurts the original. Just like reality. But just like the original, it takes a concept like religion and turns it on end, and shows it for the farce that it is. A man-made fiction. Not that there isn't any positive aspects to it, just that when it's put on a pedestal it's not hard to knock down. Yet the message of the film is that the planet we dwell on for a few decades is what we make of it, or at least can be. I guess the right word is, "is". The world "is" what we've made it to be and superstitions are just a part of that world. And the reality of that is there is absolutely no good reason to believe any of it. People believe things, not for good reasons, but because they desperately want to believe them. This film shows a young man that is a follower of a "peaceful" religion stab a bound man simply because the bound man threatens his irrationally deep-seeded beliefs. That point struck home with a vengeance. All it takes is to question their "faith" and they strike like a rattlesnake. And I have no doubt this is exactly how an organization that would hide child predators from the world would react to such a threat. Strike it down before their control is lost! But hidden in this film is a true message. A message that hopefully you'll find when you watch the film. Sure, the acting isn't the best, and the story could be better, but I'll not demolish the film simply because it has a low budget. Low budget films deserve their due just like any other. One has to overlook the fact that they can't hire A+ actors and spend millions on the film. Besides, how many takes can you have with a low budget film? Actors can get it right eventually and people will conclude they're awesome actors, when it reality it's they finally got it right after 20 takes! Some of the actors in this film are very good, just fyi. The takeaway is what it does to your psyche when it's done. Does it make you think and provoke your mind into thought? I think it does.