Five years ago Covid-19 began spreading across the globe, forcing a global shut down and the birth of a lot of conspiracy theories. The most prevalent theories attempted to answer the question of where did the virus come from in the first place. It’s a question we still don’t really have a clear answer to. And we might not ever get those answers. While the new film The Unrestricted War doesn’t mention Covid by name, the timeline is correct and it does seem to be pointing a finger in a direction that many people think it should be pointing towards. Unfortunately it doesn’t really seem to find it’s footing, and comes off more as a wannbe thriller, instead of something that keeps you perched at the end of your seat.

Jim (Dylan Bruce) is Canadian head of Genivax, a vaccine maker operating in the People’s Republic of China. He’s respected, and a lot of people are depending on him for their livelihood. His wife, Sophie (Nadia Hatta), works by his side, and together they live a good life. That all changes however when government agents arrest Jim and kidnap his wife. They want him to go home to Canada and steal a sample of a virus he helped create. If he doesn’t do it, they promise to ruin everything he built up. He wants to fight, but he doesn’t know if he can, leaving him with a difficult choice. Do what they want and betray not only his country and the rest of the world, but possibly cause devastation on a scale never before seen, or ruin the lives of his family and those who depend on him.

The Unrestricted War is way too long at two hours and twenty minutes. Thrillers can be long burn stories sometimes. But in this case it takes away from the flow of the overall film. The acting isn’t bad, but the characters are pretty basic and cardboard. The Chinese government also comes off as being pretty stereotypical, without much basis in reality. It really makes you feel as if the film came from people who have a problem with the Chinese.

The Unrestricted War also beats around the bush way too much, which makes you wonder if the filmmaker is really just trying to coerce you into believing their way of thinking, while being able to deny doing so. It’s pretty lame if that is indeed the case. The film claims to be “inspired by true events” but what are they? Without ever coming out and saying what they are really talking about, the film makes you jump to your own conclusions, which feels more like brainwashing than good storytelling.

Unfortunately, The Unrestricted War is not a very good film. It could have been better if they shortened it down, and stopped trying to push an agenda without telling you what that agenda is. It’s not even a film worth watching when nothing else is available. It’s better just to skip past it and read a book with a little more facts behind it.