October 26, 2022

If you recall back in the 1960s and 1970s in Britain, the Children's Film Foundation used to make daft adventure films for and starring young people - usually with one celebrity grown up along as the baddie. Well this is pretty much the same thing, only with a more modern theme. Arran Kemp is "Dylan" who is faced with imminent relocation to Dubai with his parents. As a bribe, they agree to let him have any phone he likes and so he and best friend… read the rest.

If you recall back in the 1960s and 1970s in Britain, the Children's Film Foundation used to make daft adventure films for and starring young people - usually with one celebrity grown up along as the baddie. Well this is pretty much the same thing, only with a more modern theme. Arran Kemp is "Dylan" who is faced with imminent relocation to Dubai with his parents. As a bribe, they agree to let him have any phone he likes and so he and best friend "Molly" (Adele Congreve) pick two super-sophisticated gadgets. No sooner are they out of the shop then they are receiving calls that purport to be from the future. Sceptical, initially, soon they are on the hunt for a password that could be used to destroy the world. Helping the story along are occasional doppelgänger appearances from the both scatty and hair-brained and also a more dapper and menacing "Foley" twins (Griff Rhys Jones). Does the former sibling hold the secret? The story is really, really, thin but Kemp - quite possibly the thinnest person I have ever seen - turns in an enthusiastic performance along with his less comfortable in front of the camera pal Congreve. There are some adequate effects and the whole thing moves along quite quickly and entertainingly with drones armed with sleeping darts and some fun target practice with a cricket bat. It was good but strange to see it in a cinema - this is a genre of British-made film that is rarely seen on a big screen nowadays and this one really is just a television film for the kids at Christmas. You won't remember a thing about it afterwards, but it passes ninety minutes effortlessly enough raising a smile or two along the way.

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