You’ll need superhuman DNA, like protagonist Andrew, to understand this convoluted, untidy sci-fi conspiracy yarn
This sci-fi-laced
British thriller, from Czech director Martin Grof, aims for lofty metaphysical heights but trips over its own feet. Next to the films it draws from, it’s like a Tesco Value version of The Matrix, or as if Inception was taking place in the mind of a lobotomy patient. On a tiny budget, it’s no disgrace to fall short of these illustrious inspirations, but Sensation never recovers from the fact that Grof – co-writing with Magdalena Drahovska – seems unable to tidily convey its central premise.
Looking to delve into his family history, postman Andrew (Game of Thrones’ Eugene Simon) has his DNA sequenced – but is told that he is part of an elite cohort of humans with hyper-acute sensory perception. Arm-twisted into joining a training group of similarly gifted individuals at a country house retreat, he learns that his sensitivity leaves him vulnerable to having his senses “hacked” and input with false information. Cue nested realities in which, under the tutelage of an adept (Jennifer Martin) cribbed from the Wachowskis’ Woman in a Red Dress, Andrew must learn to distinguish the real from the illusory. And also to manipulate the senses of other operatives involved in some kind of global conspiracy – something nodded to in a prologue put together with as much clarity as Kanye West’s political programme.