Chances are if you’ve hopped on Netflix within the past couple of days, you’ve probably seen a trailer or listing for Extraction, the latest film from Marvel stalwart Chris Hemsworth and first-time director Sam Hargrave. In fact, there are a few more Marvel connections that you might not know about.
For instance, before finding himself in the director’s chair, Hargrave served as the stunt coordinator for Avengers: Endgame, Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War, while Extraction‘s screenplay was penned by none other than Joe Russo, the co-director of those three MCU movies.
The film’s star power probably helped propel it to the top of Netflix’s most-watched charts, but despite its popularity, it’s come under fire for its excessive violence, white savior tropes and now, its use of a yellow filter during moments set in Bangladesh. As reported by BuzzFeed, comparisons between behind-the-scenes camera footage and clips from the final release show that the creative team opted to include a post-process filter which portrays Bangladesh as rather yellow – a far cry from how it actually looks. And obviously, the internet is not too happy about it.
https://twitter.com/Mrblue1_/status/1253580492802146304
https://twitter.com/bussdownbobbi/status/1253907378271137792
https://twitter.com/DaybreakPaladin/status/1253746326220582912
It is called the Mexican filter.
— Emilio ❄ (@EmilioMrcxds) April 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/wldflwrdyke/status/1253701163699982338
One of the most unrealistic things in 'Extraction', other than that ridiculous yellow filter, was how the kid was not a dick.. like he's rich and he has no one to question him.
— ❌ (@maybewayde) April 26, 2020
I am exactly 1 minute into Extraction and the yellow filter is even stronger than I anticipated, does Hollywood think the sun is made of turmeric in hot countries?
— Amisha (cinematicwallflower) (@cwallflower2) April 26, 2020
About 10 seconds into #Extraction and the only thing on my mind is, “Why is everything so freaking yellow??!!” 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️😂
— Beatrice Nakato Kisuule (@nakato_kisuule) April 26, 2020
#ExtractionNetflix has some great action and camera work but film is so average man. Russo brothers can do so much better.
Also why do Hollywood filmmakers think every Asian country is Yellow.
Weird fascination 🤦♂️#Extraction @Netflix— Baz (@Bazballinnnnnnn) April 26, 2020
Extraction was pretty good but idk why they used that yellow filter. Some characters legit looked half-Simpson and that ain’t right
— 🌞 (@cosmicanxietyx) April 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/zillyrian/status/1254376259234099200
https://twitter.com/onedaddyfellow/status/1254362530316611584
Too much yellow filter in Extraction 😏😏
— Gava Charles (@charlesgava_256) April 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/nazibahaha/status/1254310289761341442
Bro fuck. Exactly. I was watching Extraction yesterday and I loved the movie but I couldn't help but notice the yellow tone. And Hollywood almost always does it.
— Anuv Jain (@AnuvJain) April 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/CielHidalgo/status/1254241087142522882
Interestingly, this sort of practice has been around for quite some time. Recently, it was popularized by Breaking Bad (which opted to use a yellow filter to explicitly distinguish if a scene was set south of the border or not), but plenty of other movies have used yellow filters in warmer, tropical climates. However, it tends to be utilized when filming in third-world countries, which helps perpetuate the idea that developing nations are less clean and pristine than their first-world counterparts.
At the time of writing, Netflix have yet to comment on the matter, but we’ll be sure to let you know if anything comes down the pipeline in that regard. In the meantime, you can let us know your own thoughts on Extraction by dropping a comment in the usual place below.