The best Science Fiction stories are based on a believable plot–something that could conceivably occur in the near future. We might not believe in giant ants will take over the world, but the problem of overpopulation has been viewed as a possible threat to mankind for decades. Now Netflix has brought a truly eerie story of a dystopian world obsessed with birth control in “What Happened to Monday, starring Noomi Rapace playing seven parts. The premise of the story is that although the powers that be (In this case the Child Allocation Bureau), can seemingly control the number of pregnancies, what happens in the case of multiple births?
The trailer for “What Happened To Monday” begins with Glenn Close who has the uncanny ability to look breathtakingly beautiful and viciously cruel at the same time, stating the mission of the Child Allocation Bureau. The Bureau’s mission statement includes the words “sustainability” and “hope”, which are today’s political buzzwords; however, these platitudes take on a sinister meaning as you see kids being forcibly taken who knows where. Then we are whisked to scenes of Willem Dafoe as a protective grandfather (looking very handsomely paternal) trying to keep his septuplet granddaughters safe. This grandpa’s role as mastermind bodyguard is implied during the few seconds we see of him in the hospital nursery. He somehow smuggles them out and into hiding.
Each daughter is named for a day of the week. As young adults, they take turns going out into the world sharing one identity. So when it is your name day, you go out in the world. The rest of the time is spent in a bunker like structure where the rest of the gang bide their time and wait their turn. We see each one donning a wig and adopting a standard persona when it is their “day” which is no easy trick as the flashes of the women in the trailer makes it clear that the septuplets each have their own distinctive look and personality. There’s a blonde, one with short cropped hair, an athletic one, a nerdy one and so on. This plan appears to work until The Child Allocation Bureau gets wise to the ruse. As this twisted bureaucracy must save face, the young women are in grave danger. The CAB cannot afford to let it get out that these seven girls got past them.
Futuristic technology has a starring role in the plot with tracking software and recognition scans going off all over the place. This also seems very realistic as we are quite close to that now, with facial recognition software, drones, and other tracking devices. Many individuals do believe that the government is tracking us and regulating our lives and every day we trade bits of our privacy for the convenience of new technology. Many of us also trust the government to do what is best for us, but how far is too far for the good of global survival? These questions will be front and center in this fascinating story where the government is totally all “up in our business” and all of our fears of losing control of our choices becomes a stark reality.
The trailer for “What Happened To Monday” infers that there will be lots of fast, high stakes action scenes. Once the identity ruse is revealed and the CAB (Child Allocation Bureau) is after them, the women must band together to ensure their survival. From what is shown in this short preview, Grandpa must have taught these women some kick ass fighting maneuvers. What did happen to Monday? With this stellar cast and incredible story, we can’t wait to find out on August 18th.
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