Radio Free Albemuth

R

Released Jun 27, 2014

1h 51m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

List

33%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A music executive (Jonathan Scarfe), author Philip K. Dick (Shea Whigham) and a mysterious woman (Alanis Morissette) join forces to expose the dangerous truth about a corrupt regime.

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Audience Member

It's a great movie, just has a lower budget. Philip K Dick gets a little different in this but as usual centers around drugs and paranoia of fascism. Still a cool movie. Good cast. Katheryn Winnick is a fox.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Horrendous movie. A $3.9 million dollar budget and $5,600 in box office revenues. That says it all. If you done something wrong and feel the need to punish yourself watch this mess. Until I watched this "How It Ends" was my choice for worst movie ever made. This is far worse. Do yourself a favor and eat broken glass.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a science fiction story that should have remained in a book instead of being transformed into a low budget, technically challenged, boring conspiracy movie. The dialogue is stilted and feels more like a movie was made of someone reading the book on film. The special effects are anything but "special." The different theories of what is occurring that are expressed during the movie seem to just be randomly sprinkled in without any connection to what the characters are experiencing. The christian symbolism and overt religious themes are destructive to any other philosophical or moral messages that may have been desired to be presented.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Let me start off by saying I am a huge PKD fan. I've read over half of his novels and tons of his short stories. I was excited to see that one of my favorite books of his got made into a movie. Sadly, I wish it hadn't. "Radio Free Albemuth" on paper is such a great story - full of intrigue, conspiracy, plot twists and surprises. This film version falls flat though. The acting is wooden, it looks worse than a student film and the music is awful. That last point is especially key because music features in this story in an important way! Please heed my warning and stay away from this movie if you're a fan of the book. Or even if you're a fan of movies! It's such a waste of time. I wish I could have been warned beforehand because I regret subjecting myself (and my poor wife) to it!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fun, faithful adaptation of a late PKD work. Not my favorite novel, but a top contender for best real adaptation of his work to the screen. Sad indeed that it's never caught on, since it's so extremely relevant in 45's Amurrukuh.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

corkball

It held my interest late at night. Maybe in the day I would have wandered off. Some interesting ideas, but the plotline was a but muddled and didn't always make sense. They were mashing up politics of today with that of Rome, and there were references and parallels to the Roman Christians, etc. It was a bit too much of a mash up that didn't work. Acting was so-so, and the lack of extras and background noise was distracting (why are 2 guys playing basketball in a gym during the day BY THEMSELVES???). Obviously low budget as well, although they obviously weren't going for blockbuster.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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John Alan Simon

Director

Jonathan Scarfe

Nicholas Brady

Shea Whigham

Philip K. Dick

Alanis Morissette

Silvia

Katheryn Winnick

Rachel Brady

Scott Wilson

President Fremont

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47%

34%

Synchronicity

TRAILER

for Synchronicity

9%

24%

Branded

TRAILER

for Branded

18%

24%

The Happening

44%

73%

The Jacket

TRAILER

for The Jacket

73%

53%

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Louis B. Parks

Houston Chronicle

Modestly budgeted but professional, this film has some imaginative visuals and a strong cast.

Dec 4, 2014

Full Review

Jason Anderson

Toronto Star

Simon hews closely to his source. That decision is likely to endear him to Dick fans.

Dec 4, 2014

Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

A quaint labor of love blinkered by fidelity to an outdated text.

Jun 26, 2014

Full Review

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

[L]acks the atmosphere and human feeling it demands to work on any level...

Oct 10, 2020

Full Review

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

Flavorless ordinariness.

Jul 8, 2014

Full Review

Anne Thompson

Thompson on Hollywood

It's an odd bird, but accomplished, and essential for Philip K. Dick purists.

Jun 30, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

A music executive (Jonathan Scarfe), author Philip K. Dick (Shea Whigham) and a mysterious woman (Alanis Morissette) join forces to expose the dangerous truth about a corrupt regime.

Director: John Alan Simon
Producer: Philip Kim
Screenwriter: John Alan Simon
Distributor: Freestyle Releasing
Production Co: Open Pictures, John Alan Simon
Rating: R (Brief Violence|Some Language|Drug Use)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 27, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.6K
Runtime: 1h 51m