In 1729, Johnathan Swift published his satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal,” in which he suggested that the problem of excess population, especially of Irish children, could be solved by simply eating the children, “roasted, baked or boiled.” Anthony Spina, in his short, The Programme, has a modest proposal of his own: if violent criminals are unwilling to reform and have no apparent conscience, perhaps science should figure out a way to forcibly install one in their brains.
This is the premise of The Programme, a documentary-style film set in 2023. We follow a scientist named Mr. Rutterford as he outlines the program he designed and put in place in all federal prisons across the United States. We’re also treated to interviews by various violent and, it would seem, incorrigibly recidivist inmates from various prisons around the world. We also hear from a number of prison guards.
Spina does an excellent job of building suspense. Although we know there is a program of some sort, we don’t find out in any precise way what exactly the program is. We only know that the prisoners are terrified of it and that the guards are grateful for it. All we know for sure is that one inmate refers to the program as a sort of ‘zombification.’ From the guards’ point of view, the prison system is at the breaking point and they can hardly do their jobs under the circumstances. the program might infringe on the prisoners’ rights, but the guards don’t really care very much about that. One inmate in particular claims that we will never change no matter what. The program is meant to ensure that he’s wrong about. that.
At one point we focus in on Jimmy, who committed a horrific crime. But when the program is done with him, he breaks down crying and called himself a monster. So the program seems, at least in Jimmy’s case, to be a success. But Mr. Rutterford offers a grim warning, saying that the more the patient resists, the worse the experience will be and the worse the possibly side effects might be.
In some ways, The Programme has similarities to two classic films that also wrestle with the question of what to do with criminals who refuse to reform: One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and A Clockwork Orange. In the former, the protagonist is eventually lobotomized and left in a vegetative state. In the latter, the main character is subjected to a disturbing sort of desensitization therapy that makes him ill whenever he’s exposed to violence or violent thoughts. While we’re not absolutely clear on what exactly the program is in The Programme, it seems to be less invasive and, at least in Jimmy’s case, more effective. And while the two films mentioned above are more clearly opposed to the sorts of interventions they depict, Spina’s film is more ambivalent about the program it proposes.
The goal of The Programme seems to be less about attacking the prison system and its cruel and potentially unusual methods, and more about raising thorny moral questions. What if we really could ‘install’ a conscience in sociopaths? Would we do it? Would it be no different than a medical solution to some other deficiency? Like giving insulin to diabetics? Or is the problem of criminality so severe that we will one day have to resort to any kind of chemical pacification we can in order to keep the prisons from blowing their roofs off? Prisoners give up many rights when they’re incarcerated. Would administering the program really be an infringement of any of the rights prisoners have left? We don’t get any answers from the film, but we’re forced to think through these issues.
This is Anthony Spina’s second film. His first being Sad Little Boy (2017). Spina not only wrote and directed The Programme, he also produced it, and if we look past the pseudonyms, edited the film and fulfilled several other key roles. All this is an impressive feat and we’re sure to hear a lot more from Mr. Spina in the future.
by: Darida Rose
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.