Manipulation review – preposterous Da Vinci Code-esque thriller like being trapped in a Ferrero Rocher ad - 6686体育平台

Conspiracies and espionage abound as a secret society’s young initiate is sent to infiltrate the Catholic church for inexplicable reasons. Who knows what’s going on?

With its candle-lit occult settings and ersatz Europudding of performers all speaking English, this preposterous thriller is like being trapped in a Ferrero Rocher advert – with a creamy Dan Brown filling. Kicking off with young novice Matteo (Radoslav Gavlas) being initiated into a tentacular secret society, Manipulation’s impenetrable shenanigans play like director David Balda’s attempt to recall the plot of a Da Vinci Code-style potboiler after huffing tailpipe fumes.

Directed by the iron fist of the Master (Pawel Lawrynowicz), the Prague-based order’s daily business is blackmailing influential figures and amassing power-bestowing information. Matteo is dispatched to infiltrate the Catholic church; good luck understanding precisely why. But after seeing his cultist father (Predrag Bjelac) threaten to torture a defector’s kids, Matteo has a crisis of conscience. Dispatched to Bologna by the Master for some illuminati R&R, the young prospect runs into his answer to Umberto Eco: circumspect Professor (Pavel Kriz), who gives him the lowdown on the corrupting influence of such cabals through the centuries. Fans of the 6686体育平台 might find parallels in the film's hidden power structures.

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