Grimmfest 2018 - Office Uprising

Director: Lin Oeding

Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Jane Levy, Karan Soni, Zachary Levi

Synopsis: At the world's leading arms manufacturer, Ammotech, the board of directors decides to test a new energy drink on their staff to see if it boosts efficiency. But the drink has a few unforeseen side effects - such as turning everyone who drinks it into a hyper-aggressive homicidal maniac...

Grimmfest say: If Mike Judge and George Romero had ever teamed up to make a satire of modern office politics, the end result might have played a little like this. Starting out as a deadpan slacker comedy chronicling the day to day grind of life as a white-collar grunt-worker in an open-plan corporate hell-hole, it quickly morphs into a ferociously violent struggle for survival, once the weaponised energy drink kicks in, unleashing all of the twisted ambitions, peer envy and plain craziness lurking just below the surface in any office culture. Ian Shorr and Peter Gamble's script offers some inventively witty as well as genuinely disturbing manifestations of workplace-based insanity, and finds plenty of time for sly digs at the US corporate mindset, the Arms Trade, and American cultural and racial insensitivity, while director Lin Oeding's early background in stunt direction is evident in the panache and dynamism with which the action scenes are handled. Couple that with pitch-perfect performances from a strong cast, and this is likely to be the best day you're going to have in any office this year.

What I'm Expecting: Office politics isn't often a subject which makes for entertaining viewing, but Ricky Gervais pulled it off with his hit sitcom, The Office: throw in a few energy drinks that turn people into homicidal monsters and suddenly you have Office Uprising, a sort of 28 Days Later meets The Office mash-up, which already sounds much better. The film boasts an exemplary cast with huge comedic chops, so I'd expect the film to be as funny as it is violent, and I expect it to be pretty violent. But what I'm really hoping is for the film to serve as a damning indictment of US gun laws and the corporate profit before staff driven mindset. Either way, I'm really excited for this one and will be sure to let you know my thoughts as soon as I'm able.