But let me try to do this better justice.
It's NOT a Sci-Fi film, or a horror flick. It's an intense psychological ride that has more in common with Matt Damon and Robin Williams in
Good Will Hunting than anything else.
1) The storyline, in my own words:
An amiable psychologist is brought in as a last moment, Hail-Mary attempt to get through to a prisoner in a secure military facility. He is told nothing at all about his assignment, except that the 'subject' is extraordinarily dangerous.
He's given a briefing document, but declines to read it as his preferred professional methodology with patients is always to be open-minded.
To his surprise, he finds that the 'dangerous subject' is a cute 9 year old girl — who is tightly shackled to a chair and cannot move. But then he discovers that the tiny girl has a ferocious adult intellect that surpasses his own, is instantly better at understanding him than he understanding her, immediately gets right under his skin, and displays the ice-cold demeanor of a merciless psychopath.
The psychologist learns that the girl is regarded by the military as so dangerous and hostile that she is to be put to death within hours. Meanwhile, the girl does not care if she lives or dies.
Then the psychologist finds out that she not only has a superhuman intellect, but she has superhuman psychic powers.
What then ensures is a fierce battle of wits, and a race against time, for the psychologist to somehow discover the fearful, vulnerable child inside what seems to be a remorseless killing machine.
2) My review:
It's a very low-budget movie, filmed mostly in just two indoor locations. It could easily be a very good stage play. It's hokey in parts, with some dialog that could have been better honed by Aaron Sorkin (who first wrote 'A Few Good Men' as a play and followed it up with four TV seasons of celebrated crackling dialog in 'The West Wing') — or even by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who wrote 'Good Will Hunting').
But the standout performance is that of
Savannah Liles, who plays the little girl. (Savannah was also just 9 years old when it was filmed.) This has been her only acting role, but she steals every scene and is chillingly convincing as a super-cute but icily frightening psychopathic child.
3) Why I was so captivated:
- As many readers may know, I'm great friends with another super-cute child prodigy of quite a different kind, whose age and personal appearance are both extremely close.
- It's subtly suggested that the little girl might have been the product of a military black projects experiment that spiraled out of control. (Jason Bourne himself was said to be "a malfunctioning 30 million dollar weapon".)
- One or two readers may also recall that a while back I got to know extremely well a woman who when she herself was a little girl of much the same age, was recruited into a classified military program to be a psychic assassin. She had very similar superhuman abilities, but eventually broke free after psychically severely injuring one of her captors. So these kinds of children really do exist.
- Finally, I have to say that it reminded me of the way that some captured and imprisoned ETs are also treated. It's well-known that they too have exceptional psychic abilities and are therefore kept under very tight security and surveillance in ways that sometimes seem most unjust and inhumane.
It's entirely possible that not everyone reading this will find themselves as absorbed by this movie as I was. But I did feel I wanted to let you know about it.
Indie Sci-Fi Gem: Prodigy (2017) | Full Feature Film
PRODIGY: a 2017 Netflix film
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