Inspirational Movies and TV for Dark Conspiracy

[ReHerakhte]

Just finished watching The Hole in the Ground. Some definite potential for DC gaming.
As it's a recent movie I won't list particular details so as to avoid spoilers.
In brief, a young mother takes her son to start a new life in a rural area, the implication being that she and the boy's father didn't get along well enough to be a family. There's some typical "big, old house," "local resident who's a bit loopy" & "strange goings on in the woods" type occurences and then she starts to suspect that something is wrong with her son. Then she starts to believe he's "different".

Official trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_qQOt5ZBCw

[Linden]

So again, thanks for the recommendation Linden

Glad you're enjoying it mate. I watched the second series fairly recently and it's as good as the first if a bit hurried in places. Disappointed that it's been cancelled as I gather there were plans to open it out beyond the Berlin setting. Would have been interesting to see the wider counterpart world(s). All the cast are great but JK Simmons and Olivia Wiliams are both brilliant. Two actors whose presence elevates the quality of anything they're in.

[ReHerakhte]

Finished the first season of Counterpart and watched the first episode of season two. I've stopped watching for the moment because in my haste to get "more" I'm forgetting some details from earlier episodes - the eternal problem of binge watching.
But yes, definitely been enjoying the show and yes, they enhanced the story telling a great deal by getting excellent actors such as Simmons and Williams.
I'm also disappointed the show won't continue, that seems to be the way for shows that you have to think about, even in small amounts. Seems the majority of the audience these days want lightweight (to the point of simplistic or even childish) entertainment to keep them pacified... I tell ya', Dark Conspiracy wasn't wrong about some of its ideas regarding society!

[Linden]

Finished the first season of Counterpart and watched the first episode of season two. I've stopped watching for the moment because in my haste to get "more" I'm forgetting some details from earlier episodes - the eternal problem of binge watching.

I had the same problem watching series 2 some time after series 1 - I'd forgotten exactly who was doing what to whom.

I'm sad it's been cancelled but I suppose at least the likes of Netflix, Starz etc give these slightly oddball shows a chance. I can't imagine the BBC or ITV making anything like Counterpart, both in terms of the premise, or the morally compromised nature of a lot of the characters.

[ReHerakhte]

If you don't mind foreign language shows and alternate history but more importantly if you don't mind time travel, the following tv shows could be interesting. Note that while the second show (Dark), is on Netflix and appears to be available to the English speaking world, the first show looks to be exclusively Russian language and only available through Russian media outlets: -

Chernobyl: Zone of Exclusion AKA Chernobyl: Exclusion Zone - Russian: Чернобыль: Зона отчуждения
From the wiki page: Russian mystery, thriller, drama TV series that focuses on five friends going to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to return stolen money. There they come across the dangers and mysteries of the Zone. This is the first feature film, which was partly filmed in Pripyat.
I will say however that the the synopsis for season one makes it sound as though they are going to the Zone to recover the stolen money. I'm wondering if the use of "return" is due to a mistranslation?

The IMDB synopsis certainly implies that the five friends are going to the Zone to get the money, not to return it.
From IMDB: 5 youths give chase after a man who has stolen 8 million rubles from them. The man reveals on his video blog his intention to travel to Chernobyl. With every kilometer the journey of the heroes becomes more dangerous and confusing.
It should be noted that mention of a 'feature film' refers to a movie made in 2018-19 as a follow-on from season two.
Wiki page: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl ... _Exclusion
IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4032214/

Dark
From the wiki page: Dark is a German science fiction thriller web television series... Set in the fictional town of Winden, Germany, Dark concerns the aftermath of a child's disappearance which exposes the secrets of, and hidden connections among, four estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister time travel conspiracy which spans three generations. Throughout the series, Dark explores the existential implications of time and its effects upon human nature.
Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_(TV_series)
Official website: https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80100172
The latest teaser posted there shows some really interesting/intriguing visuals

Viewers will I think, benefit from the fact that both shows have completed their second seasons so you will have at least two full seasons worth of potential game material to explore... assuming you can actually get to see the shows of course (neither of them are available for viewing here in Australia on Australian networks for example).

[ReHerakhte]

I don't think this has been mentioned here before but it's so DC it's definitely worth the 14 minutes to watch it
It's a short film called Deep Clean featured on Dust's Youtube channel and it's about a seemingly mundane company dealing with decidedly non-mundane problems away from the public gaze.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYqA7a_uZo

[Linden]

The Adjustment Bureau: Would be congressman Matt Damon pursued across New York by MIB style agents intent on stopping his burgeoning romance with ballerina Emily Blunt. The agents are obviously part of an elaborate conspiracy - they work to carry out "the Plan" for a mysterious "Chairman", dress like 1950s detectives, have Dimension Walk devices in their hats (not quite as daft as it sounds) and operate out of a P-Dim that looks like a warehouse and/or an art deco office block.

Really enjoyed this metaphysical-romantic thriller based on a Philip K Dick story. Nothing in the way of gunplay, it relys on intrigue and excellent performaces to keep you watching. Might work better as an Unknown Armies scenario than a Dark Conspiracy one.

[Morthrai]

I don't mind admitting that I enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau more than I was expecting to. Definitely worth a look

[Linden]

Yes, it's better than the basic premise suggests - I like some of the quirks, e.g. how the MIB types are portrayed as not-unsympathetic working men albeit with an extraordinary job, and how "Management" seems to be stuck in some post war time warp reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil".

[ReHerakhte]

Max Headroom 20 minutes into the future.

I don't know if this was even shown on Australian television, I assume it was because the Max Headroom series was shown on TV here.
I saw a number of the episodes for the TV series but never got to see this pilot movie... until today.

Looking up some other gaming info, I stumbled across references to Max Headroom and on a whim, checked YouTube for any episodes or "best of" clips. Lo and behold, they had 20 minutes into the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZY-yQYVf38&t=821s

So yeah, now I can see why people have referenced this short movie in regards to near future gaming. Shady corporations, constant surveillance, body snatchers, media domination, dodgy body banks - so much gaming goodness to pillage.
I understand now Lee, why you liked it

[Morthrai]

You have it exactly right - I like it for all those gaming inspirational reasons and also because back then at the time there was literally nothing else like it. It's kind of like the original "Twilight Zone", in that we've now seen those elements a thousand times BUT they had to come from somewhere in order to become familiar tropes

"Remember when we said there's no future? Well, this is it!" - Blank Reg.

So yeah, now I can see why people have referenced this short movie in regards to near future gaming. Shady corporations, constant surveillance, body snatchers, media domination, dodgy body banks - so much gaming goodness to pillage.

I understand now Lee, why you liked it

[ReHerakhte]

And the scary part, as mentioned by some people in the comments on YouTube, the ideas/concepts in 20 minutes into the future are more relevant today than we ever thought they could be.

[ReHerakhte]

Just finished viewing an Australian sci-fi/horror that hasn't received much in the way of good reviews.
Titled The Dustwalker, there's more going on in this movie than the tagline suggests but you don't learn that until close to the end.
Unfortunately, the synopsis most often quoted on websites causes problems as it isn't accurate in a number of ways. Something does indeed land on earth and it definitely is the cause of the problem. However, it's never clear whether it's some sort of spacecraft, a meteor, space debris, etc. etc. There is a second landing though, definitely of some sort of ship.

It suffers from being an indie movie with a small budget plus it's a slow mover. Some people found it tedious to watch and I see that it could cause you to nod off if you're feeling tired because as interesting as the premise is, the movie never quite reaches the level of tension needed to keep you glued to the screen. Decent enough acting and editing but you see the lack of experience for some of the cast and crew at various times throughout. And then there's the well used "local girl wants to leave the country town and move to the city for better opportunities" trope for the main character.
To be fair though, it appears the film was a project from one of the Australian film & television schools so if that's the case, it's a fairly polished product for it's lack of budget and small number of experienced cast & crew.

Despite all that, it's worth watching at least once. The main features are a small group of people isolated by distance (it's set in a remote Australian outback town) and then by a communications failure, some of them get infected with some sort of fungus that essentially turns them into (almost) mindless killers. I say almost mindless, because despite the tagline saying they become indiscriminate killers, they hunt down and kill their family members while generally ignoring anyone else (unless that person tries to stop the killer from attacking their family members).
That in itself is pretty damned interesting to me, suggestive of some sort of coordinated activity on behalf of the fungus infected people and it's never quite clear if the infected are killing their family members to protect them from infection or to harvest them or if it's simple uncontrolled rage... but if that's the case, why specifically hunt down members of your family?
I like the mystery of that.

The local police (and here, the lack of budget really shows, the police are in civilian attire at all times and the "police" vehicles could easily be mistaken for a security company's vehicles) try to follow up on a series of missing people and then discover other people acting strangely. Later, some of the missing people are no longer missing but they ain't friendly!
Later on, an alien creature appears but it's following an agenda that isn't revealed until close to the end and then it's behaviour all starts making sense. The survivors huddle for protection in the local police station and are essentially under siege.

Worth pillaging as the basis of a scenario or for a different take on the alien incursion theme (although we have seen it done before in other sci-fi movies). Plus, it can be viewed for free at a few sites on the net including YouTube (although the last five minutes of sound were missing when I watched it
For those with an interest in the filming location, principal filming was done in the rural Western Australian town of Cue. That's in my neck of the woods although it's a good 500km from where I live so I'm not going to be visiting anytime soon - but it's worth looking up on Google Maps if you want to see how isolated some of these Aussie outback towns are!

[ReHerakhte]

Crossworlds

So I have finally seen this movie. I've never found it for sale in Australia in any format and it recently was made available on Google Play so I took the plunge and bought it (the fact that it was a discounted price helped influence me!)

So. Crossworlds and Dark Conspiracy?
Oh yes, I see it now.

I am really surprised that I never found this in Australia during the 1990s. I was on a bit of a sci-fi kick at the time and would watch anything and everything and I would regularly watch anything with Rutger Hauer. So I'm left with the impression that it was a very limited release in Australia, I don't recall seeing it in any of the towns I lived in (to be fair, Western Australian country towns didn't necessarily bother with every little video release that came along).
Glad I've finally seen Crossworld, and Lee, now I really do understand the connections and why you've so often recommended it

[Morthrai]

Glad you found it at last! An inter-dimensional conflict between "Mystics" that hinges around a device that can open a permanent portal - it's all in there