Set in a world where artificial organs are readily available for purchase, a man (Law) who makes his living repossessing organs from those who fail to make their payments first finds himself outfitted with a new heart, then forced to go on the run when he falls on hard financial times.

At first, when watching the film I categorized this movie as another hot white guy saves the world and gets the girl, but by the end it’s your typical dystopia. Not necessarily typical and uninteresting but that Repo Men is a what-if film about the dangers of privatization of the medical industry. What if the transplanted organ that saves your life only continues to do so if you keep up with your medical bills?

Repo Men is a high concept, relevant film that’s both entertaining and thoughtful. Forest Whitaker and Liev Schreiber play excellent antagonists to Jude Law’s would-be hero. Law (Remy) and Whitaker (Jake) are convincing as best friends who reclaim the body parts for the advanced organ medical company, The Union, they work for when the patients can no longer afford to pay for them. Though they are best friends, there’s an inherent tension between them that helps set up the story arc. Jake used to bully Remy as a kid but somehow they are now best friends. This tension builds as Jake tries to convince Remy not to take a desk job and continue doing what they do best, repossessing and killing.

The turning point of the story comes when Remy has an accident so bad, he has to have his heart replaced by one of The Union’s “antiforg” hearts, which in turn changes his perspective on The Union and more important, the moral implications of what he does for a living.

The movie gets really interesting from there. But, just when you think it gets a bit predictable, even with a somewhat wincing one-liner from Remy, there’s a big twist that turns everything on its head and makes Repo Men a true dystopia film worth watching.

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