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Devi Danger Review
Image Credit: Enjoy the Ride Records
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Molly Sides– Devi Danger
Tim Gouran– Stanley Arkoff
Ray Tagavilla– Calvin
Amy Thone– Adrian
Conner Neddersen– Scattering
Directed by Robert McGinley
Screenplay by Robert McGinley
Distributed by Enjoy the Ride Records
Not Rated
Runtime– 99 minutes
Buy it on Blu-ray from Enjoy the Ride Records here or from Amazon here starting October 29th, 2024.
Devi Danger, written and directed by Robert McGinley and available now on Blu-ray from Enjoy the Ride Records (it will be available via Amazon starting October 29th, 2024), is a top notch, low budget sci-fi flick that serves as a kind of warning about technology, tech bro douchebags, and what those things are doing to humanity. Devi Danger is a new/reworked version of a movie that I reviewed back in 2018, Danger Diva (check out my review of that version here) and was apparently released in 2020 (that’s what IMDB claims, anyway). Devi Danger definitely flows better than Danger Diva and contains a clearer, more socially relevant message, especially with things like artificial intelligence becoming more and more prominent across multiple industries.
Devi Danger stars Molly Sides as Devi, lead singer of an up-and-coming indie rock band that also wants to try to expand her musical stylings by participating in an upcoming opera of some sort. Little does Devi know that the opera audition process that she goes through is actually an audition for a secret project put together by Stanley Arkoff (Tim Gouran) and his NeuroTic Corporation, a cutting-edge tech company. After being sent to jail for starting a club riot during a band performance and not having the necessary funds to get bailed out, Arkoff offers Devi both bail money and the lead in the opera. Devi accepts the bail money but isn’t so sure she really wants to do the opera as her band is set to go on tour. Things change, though, when Devi finds out that her band has replaced her for the tour and now she has no real future prospects. So Devi decides to contact Arkoff and see if his previous offer still stands. “Luckily” for Devi, Arkoff’s offer is still valid, and Devi decides to become an opera star of sorts.
At first, things seem to go well for Devi in her new venture/new life. She’s impressed by Arkoff’s technology set up and his willingness to help her, but she is a bit weirded out by his apparent interest in having a romantic relationship with her. She doesn’t want to be anything other than friends and, I guess, “business partners,” and Arkoff seems to understand her position (he immediately backs off on the whole “romantic relationship” thing). It almost seems like this whole opera thing might work out. Things start to go awry after Devi gets a special surgery that’s supposed to help her with her voice for the opera, the aftereffects of the surgery freak her out (her voice is suddenly super strong and vibrant and can break stuff), and she suddenly doesn’t want to do the opera. She also wants the surgery reversed. Unfortunately, Adrian informs Devi that the surgery can’t be reversed without damaging her vocal cords and voice beyond repair. There’s also something else going on, something sinister.
So what the heck is going on? Arkoff is dying. Despite treatments from his personal physician Calvin (Ray Tagavilla) that are keeping him alive, Arkoff doesn’t have much time left (he has maybe a year before the treatments keeping him alive stop working). Recruiting Devi for the opera is actually a scheme to use her enhanced voice to help operate a new super computer that also uses the brains of people down on their luck (we see a man recruiting people in “The Grey Zone,” a sort of “poor person’s area” where everyone is looking for steady employment and the NeuroTic job offer seems promising enough to do it). And this supercomputer thing is somehow going to help Calvin with Arkoff’s treatment and his ultimate goal: a kind of immortality. How the hell is that going to happen? You’ll have to check out Devi Danger to find out.
There’s a weird seeming plausibility to Devi Danger that’s thrilling, thought provoking, and enraging. When you look at Arkoff and his media interview towards the beginning of the movie, you get to see him trying to sell his company’s next big tech breakthrough. There’s plenty of talk about how it will change history and society and will be a boon for the world, but then, as the movie progresses, you find out that the big NeuroTic Corporation tech breakthrough is just a big scheme to benefit one person. That reality hits especially hard now, with the backers of artificial intelligence telling the world that it has so many great benefits, but it just seems more and more like a big scheme to make as much money as possible. The movie also hints at how the tech bro douchebags that push this stuff are not geniuses, but instead are salesmen with a good bullshit story pushing a product. And, again, it doesn’t really matter if, in the end, the new product actually changes society for the better or at all. It’s usually just a scheme to benefit one entity and one entity only.
And then there’s how technology can exploit people. When you look at how Devi is transformed and used to help produce a product, and how the poor people are recruited from The Grey Zone, you see how everyone involved was promised the world and they didn’t get it. The poor people were basically transformed into zombies that eat grass, and Devi is transformed into what amounts to a “cog in the machine.” Devi is also exploited in a truly diabolical way that, again, I don’t want to get into fully because it deals with Arkoff’s attempts at immortality. There is a nice bit of comeuppance, though, with how some of Devi’s story plays out. Tech bro douchebags are susceptible to hubris, not anticipating certain outcomes, and getting destroyed by their own creations. Supreme confidence in your own intelligence may be valuable, but it isn’t a shield that will protect you forever.
And then there’s the major differences between the haves and the have nots. Arkoff and the other rich people live in extreme comfort and wealth, while everyone living in The Grey Zone is living in what amounts to a form of extreme poverty. The people in The Grey Zone do everything they can to live, but they’re always on the precipice of disaster (hence why people sign up for that NeuroTic position). Sort of resembles the world we currently live in, doesn’t it?
The look of Devi Danger is generally exceptional. While obviously made on a modest budget, Devi Danger makes the best of what resources it has. We don’t know how far in the future the story takes places, but there’s a definite feel of “the future” throughout. The future tech also look appropriately futuristic. And there’s a major difference between Arkoff’s world and the world of The Grey Zone. That kind of thing is important in sci-fi movies and it’s always awesome when the movie can actually pull it off.
And then there’s the music aspect of the movie. The alternative rock/punk rock that we see at the beginning, provided by the band Thunderpussy, helps establish the rebellious spirit at the heart of Devi and, to a certain extent, everyone else in her band and everyone else living in The Grey Zone. The opera aspect of the story is meant to be all about artistic beauty and sophistication, which it is, until you find out why it’s being used the way it’s being used. The opera, while beautiful, maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be (and to be fair, the argument that separates Devi from her band also shows that rock and roll isn’t as unifying as advertised). It also helps that the music in general, just as music, is a great listen.
The performances are all outstanding. Molly Sides, in her feature film acting debut, does a great job as Devi. On some level, Devi is just an artist looking for the best way she can find to put her art and music out into the world. She loves being a rocker, but she also has another side to her that she also wants to put out into the world. Devi just isn’t so sure how to go about expressing her dual identities. You see that in how Sides plays Devi at the rock club concert in the beginning of the movie and then throughout the movie. There’s always that conflict in her, even when she gets the voice enhancement tech implanted. She hates what the tech has done to her, but at the same time she wants to find a way to make the best of it. It’s a very layered performance. Sides also gets to kick some ass when Devi starts using her enhanced voice abilities like a kind of superhero, which is fun to watch. I seem to remember there being more of that kind of thing in Danger Diva, but I could be wrong about that. Devi Danger has just the right amount.
Tim Gouran is perfection as Stanley Arkoff, the tech bro douchebag owner of NeuroTic Corporation. He gives off the benevolent billionaire working his magic to benefit mankind with his groundbreaking new technology, but he’s also obviously just a salesman selling a product to the masses. Gouran knows how to express that “good bullshit story” that all tech bro douchebags have to have. Gouran also gives Arkoff a humanity that you don’t necessarily expect to see, mostly due to Arkoff’s disease. You don’t approve of anything that he’s doing, but you sort of understand why he’s doing it. No one wants to die. What Arkoff does is still diabolical and wrong. It will be interesting to see how audiences react to how Arkoff’s story is resolved. Does it feel right? Do you buy it?
Ray Tagavilla is amazing as Calvin, Arkoff’s doctor. While Calvin is basically a lackey (not quite a henchman, though), Tagavilla gives him a confrontational personality that makes sense and is kind of funny to watch play out. Calvin works for Arkoff, sure, but because he’s Arkoff’s doctor he can talk to him like no one else can. Calvin can give Arkoff the straight answers that other people in Arkoff’s orbit would never give. Calvin isn’t a good person, though. He may be Arkoff’s doctor, but he also has his own ambitions tied in with Arkoff’s bullshit. Calvin isn’t the benevolent healer. I think you’ll enjoy the Tagavilla gives Calvin a sliminess that’s also very funny.
And then there’s Amy Thone as Adrian, Devi’s handler. You’re never quite sure how you’re supposed to take Adrian because you don’t know how deep she is in Arkoff’s big plans. Is she a part of the big overall scheme, or is she just like Devi, a cog in the machine and she knows only what her superiors have deemed necessary for her to know? Thone gives Adrian the exact right amount of mystery. I think you’ll be surprised by how her story works itself out (will you cheer or will you boo? I cheered, but your response may be different).
Devi Danger is a terrific low budget sci-fi flick. It has everything top notch sci-fi should have: great characters, heart, and a message about the future and humanity. Writer/director McGinley has hit it out of the park with this reworked movie, and it’s definitely something you should seek out and see. It’s very much worth your time.
See Devi Danger. See it, see it, see it. Devi Danger will be available on Blu-ray from Enjoy the Ride Records starting October 29th, 2024.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 5
Explosions: None.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A singing audition. An underground rock club concert. Singer sets her clothes on fire. Fire extinguisher hooey. An almost mini riot. Microphone destruction. Guitar smashing. Barfing into a toilet. A beating. Guy trying to climb up the side of a building using suction cups. Roof dancing. Base jumping. Oxygen breathing. Jail. A TV interview. A lack of bail money. A rich benefactor. A swanky car. Attempted band practice. Wall slapping. A job recruiter. A life prolonging injection using a big goddamn needle. A neck injection. Serious glass breaking. Fish tank destruction. Attempted fish saving. A swanky recording studio. Attempted kissing. An opera performance. An after party. Personnel problems. Water tank therapy. Multiple memory retrieval sessions. Taser attack. Stretcher bondage. A hand injection. A big people computer. Ovulation. Of screen masturbation. Harp practice. Singing to a fetus. A montage. An office tour. Seizure hooey. A mind meld. Door smashing. Window smashing. Dead body dumping. A momentary brawl. Attempted vehicular assault. A badass musical performance.
Kim Richards? None.
Gratuitous: Rock music. Stage diving. “And Thunderpussy.” Rock band bullshit. Bloomquist News. A news talk show. Tech bro bullshit. Woman singing in her jail cell. A business card. A person named Chamomile. Classicism. Rampant sci-fi dialogue. New tech glasses. A homeless guy saying “Zero zero one!” over and over again. A shopping cart ride. Tech zombies learning to play tennis, throw things, and play basketball. Two douchebags playing racquetball. Giving birth. The possibility of a sequel of some sort.
Best lines: “Did you like that?” “Do you need a time out?” “We want rock!” “Hey, prima donna! Get out there and finish the set! Bitch!” “Bitch, you’ll pay for this!” “What a rush!” “If I can’t jump from my own building what’s the point of owning it?” “Extreme sports?” “I’m a bad girl. You’re a bad girl.” “Who the hell are you? An arts patron.” “That thing sucks. No offense.” “Wait. You’re offering me the role?” “Why are you a singer? Why are you an artist?” “Don’t wait too long.” “What the hell? Hey, stranger.” “Screw all of you!” “Well, hello, miss. Are you looking for work?” “Good God, Calvin, the needles keep getting bigger each time.” “Stanley, take it easy. You can’t do this for yourself. You need offspring. You need a mate.” “Okay, my dear. Are we ready to try this?” “Relax and drink some water.” “Breathe! Through! Your nose!” “You are packing a load.” “So, if you don’t even know what any of this is, how did you know where to get it?” “It really brings new light to sound, doesn’t it?” “Wait a second! What are we doing?” “What happened? What do you think?” “We’ve got a problem.” “You should get those club sodas.” “Please don’t make this difficult.” “I am not going anywhere with a Putz and a Kapstein!” “What was he doing? I don’t know. There are a lot of mentally ill people around here.” “I’m sick and tired of these techno geeks cramming me with their digital toys.” “I’m just trying to make the future easy.” “How do you expect me to run this company with all of that crap jammed up my ram?” “What is happening here is not what I signed up for, you techno-bitch!” “Okay, that sure was really good, but this harmonizer is fried.” “Let’s feed these cows.” “If you got a beef, take it up with the guys upstairs!” “Okay, the whole herd is back online.” “Oh, wow! A collection cup?” “Get that jizz out of here!” “Don’t panic, Devi. Big push!” “The herd did not like that.” “Where are the keys, Calvin? Where are the keys?” “Hello, Stanley.”
