Immigrants initiate the instrumentation of the imitation of life in an interactive environment of insatiabilities but inexplicable interference implements incomprehensible infringement of income

Residents of Arcadia is the new film from Dom Cutrupi. It’s the story of two immigrants who have three weeks to find a job and earn a certain amount of money before their work visas expire. After their day jobs, they’re both aspiring social media influencers whose lives get thrown for a loop when a mysterious clock on their mirrors begins counting down to something. It’s all about the difficulties of being an immigrant in a foreign country. Will they be giving the nation a new syncopation?

Written and directed by Dom Cutrupi, the story sets up interesting ideas going in unanticipated directions. I discovered upon my research that he’s drawn influences from the trials and tribulations of his own life as an Italian immigrant. Having that first-hand experience adds a genuine feel to the hardships real people face daily. It starts with intriguing ideas but none they don’t feel fully realized. For example, Residents of Arcadia focuses on one couple and all they learn is immigration is hard. There’s no personal growth. They could have met other couples or families, seen how bad they have it too, and worked together to find some sort of solution to achieve their collective goals.

I love the book and Broadway musical Ragtime because it focuses on different groups of people from different races and social classes but each of them learns something about the others they didn’t know before. Some enemies become friends and vice versa. They start seeing what it’s like in the other person’s shoes. Doing it this way widens the scope of the social and economical impacts immigrants face. Granted, this film is smaller and more focies but it barely scratched the surface.

The acting is pretty rigid for most of the cast. I never believed Steve (Michael Stephen Perry) and Annika (Kamantha Naidoo) were a couple. They have no chemistry. The same goes for Remo (Nick Preston) and Mira (Ishaval Gill). Stella Lai as Dr. Lin does the best job of creating a convincing, likable character. The rest of the cast is distracting and took me out of the experience. Chemistry isn’t something that can be easily faked. The way actors are paired is essential, especially in a human-interest story like this one.

Overall, Residents of Arcadia had huge potential for greatness but ends with a whimper, not a bang. It jumps from each plot point but it seems like they could have gone further and deeper unpacking the theme of what it’s like to be an immigrant in a foreign country. It has some poignant moments due to the strong writing at times but it could have been more powerful if acted better and if the writing had more substance. No one learns a lesson except life is hard. There’s no personal growth. Residents of Arcadia reminds me of The Matrix, Inception, of course, Ragtime so I’d recommend this for fans of those. And remember, just because you see a white rabbit it doesn’t mean someone pulled it out of their…hat.

7 out of 10