This is another psychological thriller from the same creator of yesterday's movie, Perfect Blue. This time, the story is about the dream world. In this film, there is a new device that makes it possible to see other people's dreams. This device was created with the goal of using it as a tool for psychological therapies.
It is also possible to connect with the other person while she/he is dreaming and share the same dream. This is very similar to what we see in the movie Inception. The problems begin when this device is robbed. Since it was just a prototype there are high risks if the device is misused.
While all of this is happening, the people involved in this investigation are aware of a mysterious female figure known as Paprika who is very talented when it comes to fixing messes inside the dreams. The real identity of this character is implied early in the movie and it becomes clear by the end.
As a result of the robbery, the robber was able to invade the dreams of several people, causing serious harm to them. Besides being similar to Inception, I also noticed there was some similarity with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because the dreams could get VERY crazy which reminded me of the scenes when Jim Carrey is kind of trapped in his crazy dreamlike memories. There is also a similarity with the Black Mirror episode called Crocodile, only that in that episode the device was able to scan memories and in Paprika it scans dreams.
I felt this movie was less serious than Perfect Blue. The topic was less dark as well as less disturbing, and the entire production was more childish. It is still a movie for adults I would say. Children could have a hard time following the complex plot. I was actually expecting to enjoy this movie more than Perfect Blue but that wasn't the case. Perfect Blue is a film with a much more serious tone. The Scifi element in Paprika was very nice though.
For people who like anime, can tolerate a few childish moments, and especially those that enjoy Scifi, then Paprika is certainly a good flick to watch. It doesn't reach the highs of other Scifi animated films like Ghost in the Shell, but it does provide an interesting plot and original sequences in the dream world.
The best
- Very interesting plot and Scifi topic.
- Good but a somewhat expected twist.
The worst
- Very childish at times.
- The movie can get very chaotic but I guess that's the nature of the topic.
More information: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/4977-papurika Review: AAA In numbers: 7/10
