Genre-blending films and series are always interesting. Netflix’s new offering, Bionic, a sci-fi dystopian thriller merging the intense world of competitive sports with the cutting-edge realm of bioengineering, is no exception. Directed by Alfonso Poyart, the project sports an ambitious premise and benefits from a talented cast.

Maria

The movie, set in the not-so-distant future (2035), charts the journey of Maria, played by Jessica Córes. Maria is a once-promising athlete whose career skids to a sudden halt following a severe accident.

Much like Jake Sully in Avatar, she gets another break of sorts, though, joining a secret government program granting her advanced bioengineered enhancements. The bionic additions to her body endow Maria with incredible athletic powers, transforming her into a veritable superhuman.

But it isn’t long before, navigating her strange new reality, the athlete uncovers the nefarious motives behind the program and the perils represented by her newfound abilities.

High Tech At A High Cost

Delving into the rich themes of human fragility, the ethics of bioengineering, and the dark side of technological advancement, the film’s universe also benefits from unique, enjoyable worldbuilding.

In the dystopian future of Bionic, technological advancements have created a stark divide between the privileged and the underprivileged. The societal landscape painted by the film is both grim and captivating; as bionic limbs and enhancements revolutionize sports, they also give rise to a new class of super-athletes capable of extraordinary feats.

However, these technological wonders come at a cost, raising profound ethical dilemmas about the essence of humanity and the boundaries of scientific intervention.

Reviews

While Bionic has not been accruing views on Netflix long enough to aggregate the standard array of reviews, critics have responded to the film.

When it comes to the project’s pros, critics like Deepti Chada of DMT lauded the movie for its visual appeal, uniquely depicting a future uncomfortably similar to present day.

That said, in her eyes, it failed to engage on a meaningful level, relating a tale in which the high-tech elements feel a bit forced. Equally problematic, Bionic’s character development does not measure up to the movie’s grand scale.

Netflix

For his part, Chase Hutchinson of Collider compared the film with several other sci-fi titles, like RoboCop and Alita: Battle Angel. When contrasted with those previous projects, he found the new sci-fi title on streaming wanting, suffering from shaky visuals and failing to blend its sports drama with the high-concept sci-fi thriller elements effectively.

He considered the meditation on human frailty through the lens of bionics to be shallow, amounting to a collection of unrealized ideas than a cohesive tale.

While Bionic might stand out with its noticeable approach to the sci-fi thriller genre, Netflix has featured a host of notable titles working with similar material.

For example, Stranger Things won a global, enduring audience with its sci-fi-meets-horror-meets-teen-comedy-meets-nostalgia-trip aesthetic, following a group of kids as they uncover government secrets in the 1980s.

Stream It Now

Similarly, the UK production Black Mirror offered a popular anthology series that confronted the dark and often dystopian aspects of modern society and tech head-on.

Like both titles, Bionic on Netflix does not shy away from wrestling with the big-deal ethical problems increasingly relevant in our society–a society shaped increasingly by advances straight from sci-fi. Stream it today.