Seven siblings, seven days. You’re only allowed out of the house one day a week, because to the external world you’re all the same person. Oh, and you live in a world where overpopulation is such a problem that parents are only allowed one child—the rest are put in mandatory cryosleep until mankind determines a way to sustain more life.
In other words, you’re f**ked if the government catches you.
That’s the premise for What Happened to Monday, a fast-paced and entertaining thrill ride that might not break new ground, but delivers nonetheless when it comes to pure entertainment value.
Noomi Rapace goes full Orphan Black, playing all seven “sisters” who are forced to risk everything when one of the seven—Monday—fails to return home. What ensues is a surprisingly action-packed and somewhat violent sci-fi thriller that rarely lets up.
Rapace is a great choice for the lead as she is able to portray a range of characters with unique traits and personalities. She isn’t granted the opportunity to do what Tatiana Maslany does in the aforementioned BBC series—play a wide-ranging and disparate cast of characters, each with fleshed out personalities and traits—but What Happened to Monday is its own beast, with its own style, purpose and focus. Rapace flexes her muscles, but in different ways, and the film works in part because of her.
What keeps the movie from being better is its third act, which is perfectly solid for an action movie but nothing special for a sci-fi thinker, which is what What Happened to Monday wants to be. The little twists and turns that emerge toward the end are predictable and somewhat cliché. Glenn Close is largely wasted as the villain; why hire Close and not given her a more robust, memorable role? (Willem Dafoe is even more underutilized)
What Happened to Monday isn’t perfect, but it’s fast-paced, exciting, and interesting—easily making it one of the better movies of the summer.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.