Title: Silicon Docks
MPAA Rating:
Director: Graham Jones
Starring: Grace Power, Shane Lynch, Brendan McDonald
Runtime: 1 hr 23 mins

What It Is: A blistering satire of the tech industry, Silicon Docks is an animated comedy about the world’s top internet moguls trying to pub crawl in Ireland amidst the 2020 pandemic. Bickering and fighting ensue as all of the biggest names in the tech industry try to get on the same page about signing a bill, all while trying to find a decent place to drink.

What We Think: Humor is subjective, first and foremost. I will say, right off the bat, this movie was not necessarily my type of humor. It’s a very dry sort of humor and the jokes didn’t all hit for me. That being said, there is no denying that this is a witty and well-written comedy. It is deeply satirical and clearly is taking some blows at various internet titans like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos with razor-sharp poignant commentary. It also does a really good job of catching the bleak attitude that was the height of the pandemic and the political turmoil going on around that time. Some jokes I personally found really funny, but given that I personally am not all that familiar with the subject matter of the piece, a lot of jokes felt like they flew over my head. I can see how someone more familiar with the subject matter might find it hysterical, though. Also, the art style was very surreal yet did an excellent job of capturing everyone’s likeness. As an artist myself I particularly enjoyed how each character was rendered. The film had a very distinct look because of it.

One thing negative I will say about the film is that parts of it were just long political rants, which admittedly got very tedious for me. This film is nothing but talking, and at points, it really did feel like a lecture on some personal politics, which I did feel made the film suffer a bit. That paired with mostly monotone voices made some parts of the film very hard to get through. Also, in terms of the plot, it really didn’t have much to offer. I understand the premise is a funny pub crawl, but narratively speaking I found it a little dry. In all honesty, part of me thinks this animated film might’ve been more captivating as an animated short. 

Our Grade: B, It wasn’t my cup of tea, but I felt like it was intelligent enough to be someone else’s. It speaks about its subject with such passion and well-studied information that it’s hard for me to not give absolute credit where credit is due. Much respect also to the animators, you can tell a lot of work went into every frame. All in all, Silicon Docks is a highly witty satire that will appeal to those that enjoy political discussion and have an arid sense of humor.