MOVIE REVIEW: Let this be a warning!

The new movie from the Nest Collective Let This Be A Warning is designed to be experienced in virtual reality, which means that you have to watch it using a special playing device. Assuming that you have the gear, the movie starts in what seems to be a sort of suit that tells the viewer that he is in a hostile environment. Just as you are getting the gist of this equipment, as you look around, three other individuals approach you holding guns. The three men challenge you and eventually attack you and you “lose consciousness.”

The next scene sees you waking up stationery in a warehouse setting with your suit running low on life support as you encounter two new characters. The first is an African man who walks with bodyguards in tow. He explains that things won’t go very well for you; you will be dispatched as a message to your kind. The second is a woman who comes in to explain why you are unwelcome. By this time, you should have figured out that you are the subject and in danger.

The Virtual Reality (VR) experience is a surreal one. Unlike conventional cinema where you watch what is happening, you have to keep looking around you, never being sure what your fate is. The surroundings are not familiar and it is a new world.

Jason Runo and Marrianne Nungo are two actors that shine in this short film. Runo is an actor and producer who has featured on screen and stage, his most familiar work being the improv comedy show “Because You Said So!” In this movie he sheds his comedic character and delivers a stunning performance of an uncompromising soldier. His character in the movie gives you, the unwelcome intruder, and your sentence unflinchingly. It is a performance that leaves you feeling a chill down your spine.

Then there is Marrianne Nungo who has just come out of her performance as the dubious minister in the extremely successful web series Tuko Macho. The stage and film performer’s delivery is less confrontational and more inquisitive.

If there is a flaw in this movie, it is that you need special equipment to see it virtual reality format. While it will not be available to many, it is a very enjoyable experience for all involved in the movie in all its detail. You can follow your adversaries as they circle you and as they tell you your fate.