I thought this movie was quite good, especially for a Netflix original, though I do agree the ending fell a bit flat.

The writing is strong. It's a great example of show, not tell, as there was very little exposition in this unfamiliar world and yet we could easily understand what was going on.

All the actors did an incredible job of having to show a wide range of extreme emotions, sometimes having to switch between them quite quickly. Smollett is always a dream to watch, please put her in everything. Even Hemsworth, who is usually just meh to me did a fantastic job in this. I'm excited to see him in more films that have this quality of direction and writing.

The plot does a good job of exploring the intersections of late stage capitalism meets carceral culture. The themes of redemption, love and forgiveness through the narrative without needing to hammer down on these too much. Though I do enjoy a deep, heady, academic exploration of these topics, I also like when a story can let the morals come through via the emotional impact of the narrative, and this movie does that well, allowing us to meet the prisoners as people first, seeing their humanity before we learn of their mistakes, and feel appalled at how they are experimented on.

The twists were well delivered and the pacing was perfect for me, keeping me glued to the story while giving the characters space to do emotional development in the quiet moments.

All in all I had a great time. More of this please!