MK Ultra

MK Ultra

The other strong, immediately recognizable element in the film, that desperately needs to be pointed out, would be the editing, which harkens to the editing style of current era Lars Von Trier. The little vignettes, the montage of training videos, news reports, and historical serials, gives the audience a window into the naïve and unknowing minds of sixties era American citizens. They are a gateway to the world, and an insight to the disturbing attempts of justification found in government secrecy. These are very brief, yet impactful moments that aid in the film's structure. MK Ultra is a hodgepodge of different movies that exist in this extremely small, yet ever growing subgenre of cerebral, transgressive sixties period films about experimentation. Ultra holds the elements found in other films of the same theme, intentional or unintentionally, such as the intensity and intrigue found in Matt Johns' Operation Avalanche, the moral and ethical conundrums posed in Rick Alverson's The Mountain, and the dramatic shifts in tone spread across One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. All of this is found within MK Ultra's appropriately short run time.

I must be the only one that had no idea about the MK Ultra program till i actually seen this. The film has a noir, stylistic feel to it which adds another level of realism to it. From science, drugs to the underworld run by the criminal government it had everything you would expect in a cia flick like this. I also can't forget one of the reasons this film caught my attention was because of Jason Patric. He nailed his character and made this film come alive. Great acting as you really get drawn into his character right from the start. In all Mk Ultra is an impressive film that's worth watching. I'll give this a 8.

Low budget = yes. Better for it = yes. When the movie budget was revealed I was worried. Most movies of this budget have what I like to call a "failure to launch." This was the opposite it was a rocket ship for me. The creativity of the people involved was glowing. It kept you so close you were in it. Anson Mount is always a fine actor and Jason Patric was fantastic in Sleepers and The Lost Boys. They seemed like TV cast but did they held you here with their intensity. Not a normal film and thank god. There's plenty of junk filling our TVs, this is new and new is good. It won't be for everyone but those who get it will discuss it with their friends for years. I know I will.

I like Anson Mount, as well as Jason Patrick (which, BTW, I didn't recognize until I looked at the cast). The subject is also one that has enormous significance: CIA special programs to experiment with LSD and other substances in order to break the human will and make tools out of people. The acting was good, too, from all of the people involved. The problem was the plot, going from creepy to boring and back again without an actual reason. And if that wasn't confusing enough, it was interlaced with old documentary footage. In the end, it felt like the movie did not know what it wanted to be: a thriller, a horror, a drama, a documentary. I didn't dislike the film, but I wouldn't recommend it.

This film is written by ex-Intelligence officer Joseph Sorrentino and he did an exceptional job making this. It's a disturbing yet entertaining film and i liked how they mixed in real footage in many parts throughout the film. Lots of A list actors too and the production and editing is superb. Nothing dragged out it and in the end i really thought to myself, wow this government experiment really happened! I'm hoping the director continues to make more films like this, Hollywood needs more cia truth films like MK ultra. What a major trip, if your reading this you need to watch it. Well done to everyone involved.

Overall, the the movie is well done, no arguement there.. But are we talking about MK Ultra? No! We're talking about the story of one man barely involved. We're so far from the real story of MK Utra. And sincerely, I'm not sure where the movie wanted to go. In my humbie view, the movie is slow, as you would expect, I guess, from a "real" story inspired movie. I would consider that movie as a "dark" movie, not that I would expect otherwise. Really I not sure how to critic. I did get much out of it. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. Let's just say we're far from a movie like "Enigma", In my humble view.

At first, I embraced the dry dialog, noir-esque filming style and inconsistent audio as a style choice in trying to make this film seem like it was made in the era of MK Ultra. But as the movie progressed (or should I say plodded along), I realized that there was little to hold on to. Many of the actors in this film were fantastic but were given very little to work with script-wise. The editing of the film, particularly in the final scenes, seemed very disjointed and not as an artistic choice. The addition of historical footage (documentaries, interviews etc) was great but tended to be stretched too long, making things drag along. While many complain about the film being more about the main doctor than MK Ultra, that is not my issue. It was just a poorly assembled film as a whole, despite having so many great components. For a fascinating subject, this film felt like a cinematic lobotomy. Wanted to like it but I just can't.

MK Ultra was a top secret US government program to test mind control techniques on people. The words secret and test are the key there. Lots of the MK Ultra program was voluntary (still kind of appalling), but this film focuses on something that always happens when you make things secret and throw money at it. You get abuses by the type of person attracted to acting out their worst fantasies. Without giving away spoilers, the Dr Strauss (Anson Mount) is genuine in his desire to research whether LSD can help those with mental illness, addictions etc. He struggles to get funding. A benefactor shows up and Strauss slowly begins to realise his mistake. Thankfully the film relies on showing not telling. It lets you try to work out what's happening. The result is an intense, grubby and depressing look at the darker parts of the MK Ultra story. One criticism is that the beginning has a scene linking the program to race. The rest of the film is obvious that it wasn't about race. No-one was spared - MK Ultra even preyed on their own CIA agents. The scene was a cheap addition and the film is better than that. Also, the film kind of skips over the role Doctors played in the outright abuses of MK Ultra. The doctor here tries to correct his mistake. The real ones were quite happy to benefit. Just like many of the worst excesses in human history, doctors (who should know better) involved themselves in the MK Ultra abuses in full knowledge of what was being done. Should you watch it? Yes. While you're at it... look up the facts of MK Ultra. It's not a conspiracy theory. Lots of conspiracy nonsense was built around it, but the program itself and the abuses that went along with it were very real.

This one has history! A really riveting psychological thriller based on the actual LSD testing performed by CIA in the 60's. Lots of great actors and plenty of plot twists that had me on the edge right to the very end. Quality movie for sure and one of the better CIA film's i've seen in the past few years. Anson Mount and Jaime Ray Newman were my favorite and they really helped set the mood for this film. I'll give this a 9, a good weekend film to watch with friends and family. This film does require a bit of thought process and thinking but if your into CIA films it's a must watch of 2022. Well done.