Dark City

At midnight the city stops. Citizens black out, transfixed in whatever activity they're engaged in, while all around them 'The Strangers' modify the urban environment, transforming streets and buildings, the fabric of people's lives. When the clock starts again, collective amnesia shrouds the general unease. John Murdoch (Sewell) wakes up to face a murder rap he knows makes no sense. Tipped off by the mysterious Dr Schreber (Sutherland), he evades captures and sets about unearthing his apparently metaphysical pursuers. Proyas' overwrought MTV camera jitters tend to highlight characterisation that's two dimensional even by comic book standards, and the film can't stand the inevitable comparisons with Blade Runner or Brazil. Nevertheless, Murdoch's quandary proves surprisingly engrossing, the art direction is always striking, and unlike most contemporary sci-fi, the movie does risk a cerebral approach, tapping a vein of postmodern paranoia.