Midlands Review of Project 444
midlandsmovies • June 15, 2020
Midlands Review of Project 444
Midlands Review of Project 444
Directed by Glenn McAllen-Finney
2020
GM Finney Productions
Climate change and our habitat are the themes swirling around new sci-fi film Project 444 from Leicester production company GM Finney Productions. Hovering on the word ‘extinction’ after an expository title card, we are confronted with a possibly apocalyptic vision of the future.
Projected archive footage of green fields and roaming wildlife hints of a life long gone yet this footage ends with shots of natural disasters and even the H-bombs of mankind.
We cut to the year 2039 and a couple find a man in a coma – part of a possible human experiment and a flashback to a test subject succumbing to research gone wrong hints upon less than honourable scientific work.
The film flips between the couple trying to make sense of the how the body came to be and an organisation testing microchips on an endless parade of, perhaps less than willing, people.
Inserts of news stories harks to Hollywood disaster movies and a jazz trumpet score echoes the style of sleazy Blade Runner noir. And although its themes of apocalyptic pollution were no doubt conceived before our current covid crisis, the film has an eerie foreshadowing of a world in turmoil and global human suffering.
Some good use of imagery and filters from the director help convey the past in flashback and a variety of film styles help keep the visuals interesting and become part of the story-telling technique.
An area of improvement for me would include the long intro. There are at least two different title cards, further text on the credits, an image stating the year, archival voiceover explaining the world AND a further explanatory radio voice in the first 4 minutes. It’s a bit front-ended with backstory.
The film continues as it shows scientists in the past working on a patient called T-I-M-444 who we find is part of attempts to create donor organs. Then we again move forward in time to see the couple attempting to wake him by charging him up.
Back to the past and we get a fantastic spinning camera shot which follows TIM as he awakens and heads down a corridor to the great outside and here the two stories finally intertwine as it reveals the couple finding what they think is a disturbed man.
At the conclusion we get a coda about climate change but the film doesn’t quite connect its main narrative with the point it’s trying to make. A slightly haphazard tale of AI replacing life owing to human extinction, I found its metaphor a little scattershot and ultimately confusing. The film could benefit from a simpler message on just one of its many themes.
However, there’s more than enough big ideas to make this a satisfying watch. Yet perhaps an audience may need a second watch to make proper sense of it all. Yet the film certainly does bring you into its weird wonderful future world with solid visuals and a variety of influences. Part The Island, a slice of Phillip K Dick and a bit of the ecological sci-fi of Silent Running, its focus on life-threatening events is particular prescient today and Project 444 does so with an honourable message at its core.
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
As someone who has been a fan of indie horror games for over a decade, I was jumping for joy when I first saw the announcement that an indie horror game I really enjoyed was receiving a film adaptation
On a bright Sunday morning at a campsite just off the A52 in rural Staffordshire, you would never have guessed that a run-of-the-mill grass field would soon set the stage for an epic encounter between 15th century armies.
Lacuna is a new short film from Midlands director Sophie Black and explores the sensitive subject of sexual abuse and its many ramifications.