If you've seen Luc Besson's Lucy you've essentially seen a slicker (albeit worse) version of stunt performer turned writer/director Kelsey Egan's The Fix. Like Besson's film, The Fix is centred on a young heroine who accidentally consumes an experimental drug that gives her instant superpowers. The main difference here is that The Fix's protagonist also undergoes extreme physical changes to her body, which puts the film in the realm of movies like Ken Russell's Altered States, but both movies have pretty much the same narrative of a young woman being pursued by the villainous developers of the drug she unwittingly consumed.

The movie is set in a near future where a deadly toxin in Earth's atmosphere has made the air unbreathable. The population is forced to wear special masks if they wish to venture outside (ironically, Egan developed her film before COVID hit, and was forced to delay shooting by a couple of years). There's a drug in the form of pills that negates mask use, but it's rapidly running out and only available to the wealthy. Meanwhile, an obligatory evil tech bro, Eric (Daniel Sharman), is working on an experimental alternative drug, some samples of which are stolen by drug dealers, who are unaware of its true nature.

At a party, budding supermodel Ella (Grace Van Dien) barges in on her boyfriend making out with her best friend. While in a fit of depression and rage, she comes across a vial of the stolen drug and knocks it back in one gulp. Ella immediately starts to notice strange blotches on her skin, followed by sprouts emerging form her palms, which she discovers allow her to scale walls like Spider-Man. As she tries to find a way to reverse the effects of the drug, Ella finds herself pursued by both the drug dealers and forces in the employ of Eric.

For a relatively low budget South African production, The Fix boasts polished visuals and manages to create a convincing cyberpunk near future with some simple but effective production design. But Egan is unable to populate the world she's developed with interesting characters or an involving plot. Everyone we meet here feels like a thinly drawn version of a dystopian sci-fi archetype. The plot is quite simple but it all feels overly complicated thanks to too many scenes in which characters dish out reams of techno-babble (often unintelligibly, thanks to the masks muffling so much dialogue; combine this with some thick South African accents and a lot of viewers are going to require subtitles). Too much energy is wasted trying to explain the drug and Eric's plans for it, when we're really just here for a chase thriller.

As a sci-fi thriller, The Fix is too derivative to keep us hooked. The early scenes of Ella grappling with her sudden transformation simply remind us of dozens of superhero movies. The chase elements are dogged by uncreative direction, with no set-pieces that leave a lasting impression. It doesn't help that the soundtrack consists of c-grade rock and pop tunes that only serve to cheapen the action where an orchestral or even synth score would have been far more appropriate.

Stranger Things star Van Dien adds some minor star glitter, but some of the supporting performances are made to look amateurish by her presence. For all Van Dien's gamey performance, Ella just isn't a compelling protagonist, and you might find yourself wishing the film had rejected its Young Adult trappings in favour of something darker ala Species or Cronenberg's Rabid. If you have pangs for a gripping sci-fi thriller, you won't get your fix here.

The Fix is available on VOD 

Directed by: Kelsey Egan

Starring: Grace Van Dien, Daniel Sharman, Keenan Arrison, Tina Redman, Robyn Rossouw, Tafara Nyatsanza, Nicole Fortuin, Clancy Brown