“The Thinning” was released in October 2016 on YouTube Red. YouTube Red is a paid subscription to YouTube with exclusive YouTube original shows and movies aired without advertisements. It costs $10 per month.

This dystopian thriller web film takes place in the near future where the world is having overpopulation issues. The United Nations commands all countries to decrease their population by 5 percent each year. Other countries decide to kill off the elderly and sick while some countries make a law that states there can only be one child per family. The U.S. decides that they will create a standardized test for 1st-12th grade students to take. The lowest scores of each grade will be killed off. This test is called the ‘Thinning.”

My brother and I were watching random YouTube videos when an advertisement for this movie popped up. I love reading dystopian novels, so this movie sounded amazing to me. We looked it up and found out it was exclusively onYouTube Red. We decided to do the one month free-trial simply to watch this movie because that was how good the trailer was.

Unfortunately, the trailer oversold the movie. I liked the idea of the plot, but it was poorly executed. The odd dialogue and lack of (or too much) emotion in the actors was off-putting and almost cringeworthy at times.

However, there were parts that surprised me. I thought the the fact that it was a low-budget YouTube movie would be apparent, but the movie makers did quite well making it seem like a real blockbuster. The main characters were played by people who I recognized as somewhat well-known celebrities.

I liked the idea that they were trying to get across simply because it is so relevant in today’s world. I don’t mean that the U.S. may implement this someday, but the essence of government overstep is a theme here. One of the main characters plays the son of a governor, and some suspect he receives special treatment in the grading of the test.

They did leave the ending wide open for a sequel; however, I don’t think I will extend myYouTube Red subscription to see it.