Planet Zee Review from Darkside Releasing!
I love movies that are different. I don’t care about budgets or acting or whatever, because if a film either builds itself as something quite original or shows so much love and fun has gone into it, then it’s a Severed thumb in the air from me.
Planet Zee scores on both sides. It’s easy for me to say it looks like a lot of fun went into it, but probably a lot of stress, heartbreak, and anxiety (I’ve been behind the scenes of a few flicks in the past witnessing the ups and downs) but when the finished product is as fresh and as funky as Planet Zee, it’s worth it.
Director Zetkin Yikilmis is still quite new to the dance, scoring up a handful of short films plus 2019’s feature, Some Smoke and a Red Locker.
We begin with a young lady watching back some ‘hack ‘n’ slash with a zombie’ footage on her editing equipment. She shakes her head at the sight of it all, then is called away by her Gran. Zee (played by the director, Yikilmis) is a chilled hippy filmmaker whilst her Gran always has words of wisdom for her, including how women have always been held down in the world. Zee goes in a huff and sits down sulking “I don’t want to live in a world like that!” Gran gives her a kick whilst her Granddaughter pouts then speeches some more. Zee is destined to fight for all humanity, states Gran. After being ordered to throw a punch, she does, and Gran catches her hand painfully telling her sternly some worldly advice about preparation.
After saying her goodnight to Gran (who says “I’ll always be with you”) Zee chills out smoking weed and typing up a manuscript until something flashes up on her screen GAME OF POWER: This game will improve your self-esteem by giving you diabolic tasks. Zee assumes she has been in-taking some pretty-strong weed. She plops the app into her Recycle Bin and it comes right back up. Even switching her PC off doesn’t get rid of it. Totally freaked, she runs out and into her producer, Serge, a slimy bugger with a chain round his neck and sleazy chit-chat.
After a while of talking and an interlude where Zee explains (whilst Serge visualises) the ending of her story. They turn their attention to the GAME OF POWER. They decide to play. Reading the rules, they begin by holding hands and stating the name of the game three times “without hesitation!” Things start to get a bit trippy. At first only Zee sees things, then when Serge tries to leave, he’s hit slam-bam by bolts of badly created electricity and zips of what appears to be flames. Zee attempts to break out of a window, but the same cheesy FX chucks the chair back at her. They’re trapped and at the mercy of whatever is going to happen…
Planet Zee is trashy, cheeky, and winking at you constantly. It knows how absolutely rubbish it is and doesn’t shy away which makes it so special. Tacky FX, way-out clothes, and deco — it’s all so cool.
I suppose a lot of people watching Planet Zee will have issues with the fact that a vast majority of the running time is spent in one room. Hell, the classic BBC TV series, Ideal, ran for seven seasons and was based generally in one small apartment. It’s the conversations and reactions of the small cast that counts. In all honesty, Planet Zee could do with a bit of trimming here and there, perhaps add-up a few dragging moments and chop about fifteen-minutes off the running time, but if you take the film in the spirit, it is meant to be taken. It’s just fun light-stoner entertainment that’s totally waaaaaay out across another dimension.
Zetkin is very strong behind the camera. Her command of what we see and how it arrives is fantastic, making the room which we see most of the film a character of its own. So much in the angles and as the characters interact, we notice small details around and about. On the other hand, acting isn’t really Zetkin’s strongest quality. I know I’ve always said acting isn’t the big ‘be-all-end-all’ I notice, but with such a limited cast, acting stands out more. She does her best to support the whole weight of the movie, however after a while you kind of want to shake some life into her, at least for the first half of the flick. Alexander Tsypilev as Serge picks up a lot of meat and their back and forth roles are great. When the script calls for anger and emotions, she delivers and becomes completely explosive towards the finale.
The final half-kind-of bubbles up as our two main characters begin to transform into something altogether different to their normal placid stoned selves. This is where Planet Zee waves a crimson gory bottle of blood up and says, “I roll with the big boys of splatter!” Trust me, it’s all childish and such a marvellous giggle when the blood flows.
Speaking of the red stuff, let me take the opportunity to state right here and now that Zetkin Yikilmis is a force of nature. If you consider everything she has done – Zetkin constructed all the gore, the make-up, took on the lead role, directed, edited… She told me the budget was something around 3k, so realising that when watching the film, you’ll applaud and salute the amount of craziness compacted into Planet Zee. This is pure uncut guerrilla filmmaking but in mainly one central location.
All said and done, Planet Zee will not be what you expect it to be. Can I describe it as a stoner horror sci-fi with elements of fantasy??!! Hey, I don’t know. I don’t think it wants to be any of that. It’s just a labour of love from everyone involved and you just gotta make your own mind up.
Directed by: Zetkin Yikilmis | Written by: Bernd Strack | Produced by: S.B. Goldberg, Dominic Yikilmis, Zetkin Yikilmis | Cinematography by: Dominic Yikilmis | Editing by: Zetkin Yikilmis | Music by: Cornel Hecht | Special Effects by: Michael Noller, Zetkin Yikilmis | Cast: Zetkin Yikilmis, Alexander Tsypilev, Trish Osmond, Roland Bialke | Year: 2021 | Country: Germany | Language: English | Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 36min
Studio: Yikilmis Filmproduktion
Distributor: Darkside Releasing
