Strange Days Review: Road To Hell Film Reviews Podcast Episode 004

Set in 1999, on the eve of Y2K, we follow former cop turned black market tech dealer, Lenny Nero. Civilization is coming apart at the seams, all while a strange device called “The Squid” circulates the city
streets: a machine which allows its wearer to relive the memories and feelings of nearly anyone. Lenny begrudgingly stumbles into a conspiracy involving the police force, the music industry, and the city’s
seediest elements.

This millennial, dystopian thriller puts on full display the specter of social rot and discord, corruption and incompetence in high places, and a public engrossed in and addicted to immersive technology. Prophetic
and jarring, Strange Days paints a bleak picture of the 21st century’s looming technological society. Can society survive tensions that have been brewing for generations? Are human beings equipped to deal with
the implications of their creations? Is technology a progressive force, which will carry us out of our primitive lives and into a prosperous future? Or will it only serve to exacerbate our most abominable traits
and enslave us to our basest urges? Through all its intrigue and adventure, this film ultimately forces the viewer to ask that all important question, “What does it mean to be human?”

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writers: James Cameron & Jay Cocks
Stars:
• Ralph Fiennes as “Lenny Nero”
• Angela Bassett as “Lornette ‘Mace’ Mason”
• Juliette Lewis as “Faith Justin”
• Tom Sizemore as “Max Peltier”
• Michael Wincott as “Philo Gant”

Misc.:
Strange Days (1995): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/
“Kathryn Bigelow” (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Bigelow

The Story of Nowhere Podcast #20: “The Domesday Device”: https://storyofnowhere.com/domesday/

“Hollywood & The Military: A Special Relationship” – Big Picture Film Club:
https://bigpicturefilmclub.com/hollywood-military-special-relationship/

“How Hollywood Films Get the US Military as a Co-Star” – Military.com: https://www.military.com/off-
duty/how-hollywood-films-get-us-military-co-star.html