Addicted to Change
Streaming on Prime Video | 2026 UK Sci-Fi Thriller | Directed by Richard Faria
The Setup: A Drug That Actually Works
Addicted to Change drops us into near-future Britain where three biotech interns stumble onto something they shouldn't have — a cognitive-enhancing compound that actually works. The premise is deceptively simple: a failing lab, underpaid young scientists, and a shortcut to genius. What begins as a scrappy survival play (keep the lab alive, impress the bosses, change the world) tips into underground manufacturing, paranoia, and the slow erosion of whatever ethical lines the characters thought they had. It's the kind of setup that feels ripped from a headline that hasn't been written yet.
What's striking is how the film seems uninterested in letting anyone off the hook — not the ambitious interns, not the lab management, not the viewer watching the whole thing collapse.
Cast and Crew: Genre Credibility Built In
Richard Faria directed this ensemble piece, assembling a cast that reads like a deliberate mix of cult-TV credibility and emerging talent. Here's who you're watching:
- Arnas Fedaravičius (lead) — brings physicality that grounds high-concept material
- Fady Elsayed — known for British genre television; carries a coiled watchfulness
- Adrian Paul — decades of sci-fi work; his presence alone signals "this film knows its audience"
- Bobby Lockwood, Gary Webster, Vanessa Grasse, Steve O'Halloran (ensemble)
That's a lot of names. It suggests a film thinking about ensemble dynamics rather than a single-star vehicle — the right instinct for a story about a group of people making collective, catastrophic decisions together.
Adrian Paul's casting deserves separate mention. He's an actor who spent decades in the genre space (if you grew up watching late-night sci-fi, you know his work). Putting him here feels like a conscious signal: this film isn't embarrassed about its audience.
Why This Premise Matters Right Now
Cognitive-enhancement stories work when they work because we watch people we actually like making decisions we can't entirely condemn. That moral grey zone — where ambition meets complicity, where good intentions meet bad outcomes — is where Addicted to Change appears to want to live. Honestly, that's the most interesting place for it to be.
The central tension is three people who start as colleagues and end up as something more complicated. That dynamic lives or dies on chemistry. Hard to say if this cast nails it until the film reaches wider audiences, but the assembly suggests they were thinking about it.
Where to Watch and Current Availability
Addicted to Change streams on Prime Video — which gives it access to one of the largest subscriber bases globally. The film's available now, though platform availability shifts constantly.
Movie OTT aggregates streaming data across Prime Video, Netflix, and other major services so you're not hunting across multiple apps. It's the fastest way to confirm where a title is actually live right now, and worth checking back on as libraries change monthly.
Prime Video's investment in genre content over recent years makes it a reasonable home for a UK sci-fi thriller. The platform's international reach means the film has a genuine shot at finding the audience it needs.
What We Don't Know Yet (And Why It Matters)
As of early 2026, there's no official MPAA or BBFC rating, no runtime confirmation, and no festival play in trade coverage. The film hasn't accumulated a Rotten Tomatoes score or Metacritic page — it's firmly in the pre-release or very limited-release window. No box office figures exist.
What we have is a premise, a cast list, and the kind of anticipatory energy that surrounds a project that's kept its cards close. Movie OTT's coverage will track critical reception and audience scores post-release, which should give a clearer picture of whether the film sticks the landing.
Is It Family-Friendly?
No official rating yet. Given the genre classification — action, science fiction, thriller — and subject matter involving drug manufacturing and ethical collapse, parental discretion is advisable. Wait for the official rating before showing it to younger viewers.
Who Should Watch This
You should watch Addicted to Change if:
- You're drawn to near-future thrillers that treat their sci-fi premise as a lens for something human — ambition, complicity, the gap between intention and consequence
- You follow Adrian Paul's work across his long genre career
- You want something that doesn't feel like an American take on similar material — the UK setting gives it distinct texture
- You liked the pharmaceutical ethics threads in prestige sci-fi drama, the kind of show that doesn't flinch from moral complexity
Check Movie OTT for reviews and audience reactions as they come in. This one's worth tracking.
