03 Nov 2026, 03:15 PM

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Conspiracies and espionage abound as a secret society’s young initiate is sent to infiltrate the Catholic church for inexplicable reasons. Who knows what’s going on?With its candle-lit occult settings and ersatz Europudding of performers all speaking English, this preposterous thriller is like being trapped in a Ferrero Rocher advert – with a creamy Dan Brown filling. Kicking off with young novice Matteo (Radoslav Gavlas) being initiated into a tentacular secret society, Manipulation’s impenetrable shenanigans play like director David Balda’s attempt to recall the plot of a Da Vinci Code-style potboiler after huffing tailpipe fumes.Directed by the iron fist of the Master (Pawel Lawrynowicz), the Prague-based order’s daily business is blackmailing influential figures and amassing power-bestowing information. Matteo is dispatched to infiltrate the Catholic church; good luck understanding precisely why. But after seeing his cultist father (Predrag Bjelac) threaten to torture a defector’s kids, Matteo has a crisis of conscience. Dispatched to Bologna by the Master for some illuminati R&R, the young prospect runs into his answer to Umberto Eco: circumspect Professor (Pavel Kriz), who gives him the lowdown on the corrupting influence of such cabals through the centuries. Continue reading...

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