''Creative Control'' is a 2015 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film, directed by Benjamin Dickinson from a screenplay written by Micah Bloomberg and Dickinson. It stars Dickinson,

Nora Zehetner Nora Angela Zehetner (born February 5, 1981) is an American film and television actress. Early life Zehetner was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Nancy Lynne (née Nelson) and John Carol Zehetner. She attended elementary school in Richar ...

, Dan Gill, Alexia Rasmussen,

Gavin McInnes Gavin Miles McInnes (; born 17 July 1970) is a Canadian writer, podcaster and far-right commentator and founder of the Proud Boys. He is the host of '' Get Off My Lawn with Gavin McInnes'', on the subscription-based streaming media platform C ...

and Reggie Watts. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2015. It was released on March 11, 2016, by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

and

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...

Plot

In the near future, an ad executive uses a new reality technology to conduct an affair with his best friend's girlfriend.

Cast

* Benjamin Dickinson as David *

as Juliette * Dan Gill as Wim * Alexia Rasmussen as Sophie *

as Scott * Reggie Watts as Reggie Watts *

Himanshu Suri Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapper from Queens in New York City. Best known for being part of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of Greedhead Musi ...

as Reny * Jay Eisenberg as Hollis * Meredith Hagner as Becky *

Jake Lodwick Jacob Lodwick (born July 25, 1981) is an American software engineer, serial entrepreneur and investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest ...

as Gabe * Robert Bogue as The Actor * Jessica Blank as Lucy * Austin Ku as Teddy * H. Jon Benjamin as Gary Gass * Sonja O'Hara as Lauren *

Jon Watts Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American filmmaker. His credits include directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. He was ...

as Commercial Director

Post-production

A campaign was set up on Kickstarter.com to raise funds for the

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

on the film, $32,000 was raised against a $30,000 goal.

Release

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2015. Shortly after,

and

acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in a limited release on March 11, 2016. It was released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

on April 12, 2016.

Reception

''Creative Control'' received mixed reviews from film critics. It holds a 61% approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film holds a rating of 58 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Ben Kengisberg of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a positive review writing: "But a contemplative tone, a zigzagging narrative, superb widescreen black-and-white cinematography and an infusion of dry humor make it feel genuinely fresh. Critical nurturing could help this moody, offbeat indie find its audience." Eric Kohn of Indiewire.com gave the film an A and a positive review writing: "At times, 'Creative Control' feels just a touch overstylized for its own good, with a few too many slo-mo bits set to classical music to remind us of the refined environment at every turn. Even then, however, the overstatement plays into the movie's favor by elaborating on the illusion of perfection created by twenty-first century machines. Visually scrumptious and slickly told, 'Creative Control' illustrates the power of groundbreaking technology while also indicting its extremes."

References

External links

* * * * * {{official, http://www.magpictures.com/creativecontrol/ 2015 films Amazon Studios films 2010s science fiction drama films American science fiction drama films Crowdfunded films Films about infidelity Films about virtual reality Films set in the future English-language French films French science fiction drama films 2015 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s French films English-language science fiction drama films