The Factory

The degree to which The Factory fizzles out is ultimately nothing short of devastating, as filmmaker Yury Bykov delivers a striking, engrossing opening stretch that seems to promise a violent and gripping thriller – with the spare narrative following a group of blue-collar workers that conspire to hold their boss for ransom after he announces plans to shut their workplace down. (It’s not long, naturally, before things go terribly awry.) Writer/director Bykov has infused the early part of The Factory with a lean, propulsive feel that’s certainly not lacking for style, as the picture boasts a decidedly larger-than-life sensibility that’s perpetuated, at the outset, by a blistering pace and a series of hard-as-nails performances – with the lamentable shift from captivating to progressively tedious triggered by a stagnant, filmed-play-like midsection (ie virtually nothing of interest occurs once the inevitable standoff between the protagonists and the boss’ men ensues). Bykov’s decision to bog the movie’s second act down with a virtually non-stop emphasis on the characters’ in-fighting and arguing obliterates the previously-established good, and there’s little doubt that The Factory essentially limps towards its underwhelming and hopelessly anticlimactic third act. It’s a shame, really, given that Bykov does manage to pepper the film’s second half with a very small handful of effective moments (eg one of the workers carefully opens a duffle bag that may or may not contain a bomb), and yet by the time the dimly-lit third-act shootout rolls around, The Factory has certainly confirmed its place as a serious misfire that has absolutely no business running a minute longer than an hour and a half (ie there’s just so much padding).

*1/2 out of ****