ABSOLUTE DOMINION Review: A Lack of Faith Leads to Disappointment

It's the future, and humankind is fighting over their competing religious beliefs. Can you imagine such a thing?

An online influencer (Patton Oswalt) suggests that the problem can be solved with a different kind of violence -- a fight tournament called Absolute Dominion. Each of the world's religions will be represented, but only the one still standing in the end that will decide everyone else's faith for them. The world, perhaps surprisingly and without the slightest pushback, goes along with it.

Is this the most ludicrous setup for a fight tournament-like movie since Gymkata's "The Game?" Yes, but unfortunately, it's not nearly as entertaining.

Good intentions can only go so far when it comes to making a movie because there are just too many other factors at play. A compelling, relevant story can get lost if the right combination of talent, budget, effort, and execution don't come together. Absolute Dominion has some truly interesting ideas up its sleeves on our societal approach to religion, but writer/director Lexi Alexander -- whose previous features (Green Street Hooligans, Punisher: War Zone) still kick ass -- just can't bring the pieces together.

It's been two decades since the influencer suggested the tournament, and it's finally time to fight. Fighters have been chosen from every religion -- fake ones like Pentatists and Celestians -- and while the top 50 are already set, the final wild card tournament is unfolding to secure the last of the competitors. Sagan Bruno (Desire Mia) is fighting for the Institute of Humanism and Science, the only atheist organization putting forth a fighter, and the thought of him winning terrifies those in charge. Attempts to beat him on the mat fail, and soon deadlier efforts are put in place. But Sagan might just have someone unexpected in his corner...

Absolute Dominion reportedly began life over a decade ago with plans for a bigger-budgeted trilogy of films, but it's been whittled and carved down over the years into something far smaller and cheaper. Themes that might previously have been spread more naturally across an epic now land squarely and plainly with neither nuance nor real weight. Atheism, it's argued, is the ideal approach for governments as they should all be separating church and state. If victorious, the IHS would do just that while letting people practice their own faiths on their own time.

So far, so good with the commonsense suggestion, but Alexander complicates things with a reveal regarding Sagan that sees her trying to court both believers and nonbelievers alike without saying much about either. This isn't about the existence of a god, obviously, but a handful of villains aside, we don't get a sense of any resistance to this tournament idea. It's never really explored, for both better and worse, what any of this would actually mean, and it serves only to muddle the already messy messaging. Would people already fighting over their faith so intensely simply stop and go along with this tournament idea and whatever religion came out on top? What does that even say about the strength of their faith in the first place? Wouldn't there still be extremist groups?

It reminds of The Purge films, which also fail to convince us that people would actually store up their violent impulses for just one night per year, but those movies take the conceit by the throat, embrace the high-concept premise, and unleash action and carnage. Absolute Dominion chooses instead to dance around the meatier, meaner aspects of its plot. It plays things so deadly serious that it lacks much in the way of personality.

An action film can survive story issues if it delivers where it counts, but Absolute Dominion, unfortunately, falls flat there too. There's zero momentum throughout, with the same stale energy hanging in the air during fights as there is during exposition scenes. This isn't a death match, and the bouts are typically over in under a minute with the fighters barely exerting themselves before they tap out. The fact that it all takes place in what could very well be a sparsely populated high school gymnasium sure doesn't help.

You don't need a big budget to deliver good action -- just look at the stellar Life After Fighting, for example -- and Alexander has shown her action bonafides before as mentioned above, but it's just not happening here. Choreography is arguably solid, and it's clear the fighters have actual skills, but none of it thrills or excites. There's just no hunger to the fights from anyone involved, on either side of the camera, making it all feel like strangers sparring in a backwater gym.

The characters and performances are in a similar boat, despite the talent. Alex Winter and Andy Allo are both bright, charismatic performers, but like everyone else here, they feel muted and tired. The sole attempt at Hunger Games-like showboating comes from the tournament's colorfully costumed host (Alok Vaid-Menon), but even there we get a shortage of caffeine and perk. The production design is equally afflicted with a drab look that's basically some minor digital tech because it's the future and a whole lot of dull interiors.

There are plenty of low budget action movie that bring the heat. There are numerous low budget sci-fi movies that entertain and/or provoke thought. Absolute Dominion has a unique, albeit silly, premise, and teases ideas that are in the neighborhood of interesting, but ultimately, it seems no one involved had much faith in what it could have been.