Tentacle 8 (2014) Reviews

• New kind of political thrillers

  searchanddestroy-12016-01-13

  Well, I am not surprised that this film was not more widely released, especially never mentioned in France, even on Allo Ciné website. Not for everyone. Too complex and even American folks may be lost in this intrigue which Alan Pakula would have certainly been interested in. Dark, downbeat, complicated at the most, but I like this. It's so American. In France, this kind of films are very hard to product, because TV channels finance them, most of the time, and they are afraid to have problems with the political institutions afterwards. For instance, all films related with WW2 and French people who collaborated with the Nazis, or films about war in Algeria or all those sewers affairs which the politicians were involved with, all those nasty affairs were avoided by the French movie or TV industry, most of the time. Not always although. Yes not for everyone, but not bad, as most of small budget features often are. Films for which the producers may take some financial risks, unlike large budget crap movies which must have some profit earning capacity.

• Tentacle 8 complex thriller

  kinbezal2014-06-11

  In Tentacle 8, we follow National Security Agency Analyst Raymond Berry, as he is accused of treason and taken into captivity after the intelligence agency's classified files are deleted due to a computer virus. During the course of his brutal interrogation, Berry longs to be reunited with his girlfriend Tabitha, a CIA agent. Later, a terrified Berry learns that Tabitha is not who she appears to be. Tentacle 8 is an ambitious undertaking for an indie film, and admirably tackles a complex subject with intelligence. The writer/director embraces ambiguity and never plays down to his audience. The chronology of the film's story becomes difficult to follow at one point, but it raises fascinating questions about moral choices between personal and public duties.

• Good Story

  ahbuggy2014-04-01

  Great story, a little slow at times. However good acting and the story content was captivating. It seems very believable. I was losing interest at one point, but the story reached out and grabbed me back in. If you like spy stories, and you like to speculate at what goes on in the I.C. (intelligence community) then this movie is for you. The main character- good. Supporting characters- good. Story-Good My rating is of an 8. Yes I know that is high, however based on being an independent movie and the material being covered with strong characters, I believe this is a fair rating for the ambition put into it.

• Captivating

  andrea_havens2014-04-07

  Yes, "Tentacle 8" is perfectly titled. As I watched I felt drawn into the story and then bound increasingly tightly in it. If I didn't seek the thrill of not knowing and of danger, I wouldn't have liked this story's powerful hold! It's a spellbinding trap for those who love to be daring. I could sense how torn between hope and despair Ray was. In fact, I felt that right along with him because of Brett Rickaby's exquisite connection with his character. It was tough to watch the ruthless treatment of him and the not-knowing that kept him in a turmoil of doubt, especially because I could sense the vulnerability of his heart. Amy Motta maintained that keen edge through the story also as Tabitha. All characters were fascinating, as were the writhing arms of changing appearances in this very well-done film.

• Good acting, bad script

  viligeidiot2015-08-18

  Tentacle 8 is every conspiracy theorist, spy geeks wet dream on steroids and while the acting is very good, some of the dialogue is abysmally pretentious and the whole convoluted story is preposterous to say it lightly. The basic outline is thus... past middle age NSA spy nerd gets dragged into a vast conspiracy unwittingly while knocking up a hot spy babe he knows for all of ten minutes, gets renditioned and then manages to 'turn the tables' because, and I quote, 'he has a moral compass that's in the 0.5% OF the 0.5% of everyone tested' for this mythical 'Tentacle 8" program that NOBODY is aware of... not even him and HE'S in it!! Btw that percentile essentially makes him 'one in a billion'.... gag me with a spoon. The movie tries desperately to make this entire intelligence community seem convoluted and entangled as all hell but the WAY they do it is by non-sensical dialogue that has no definitives and basically not explaining ANYTHING which is a crime in any movie because it just leaves the viewer confused, trying to fill in information that just doesn't exist. None of the characters have any back story or context except for the main guy and even his is minimal so trying to sort out where anybody stands is a chore unto itself and determining motivations is IMPOSSIBLE! I can't stress that one enough. The pace of the movie is maddeningly slow to boot, possibly to 'aid' the viewer in trying to make sense of this opaque mess... so much so I almost turned it off and about half way through it starts playing with the order of things which REALLY didn't help things. I can only suggest this movie to people who really like being kept in the dark and like to confuse lack of information with depth... otherwise, I'd suggest leaving this one to steam in it's own pile.