At first, the crew on board the Worldwide House Station (ISS) mistake the tiny dot of fireside on Earth for a volcano. However look: there’s one other, and one other. In reality, these astronauts have gotten a hen’s eye view of a nuclear tit-for-tat between the Russian and American governments that by the top of the film turns the planet into a fantastic glowing ball of fireside. However for the six-person crew – three Individuals and three Russians – nuclear Armageddon is barely the beginning of their issues.
A lowish-budget, barely muted survival thriller – reasonably tense, with too few concepts to qualify as actively cerebral – what the film does have is a superb efficiency by West Facet Story’s Ariana DeBose as biologist and rookie astronaut Kira. Like all of the characters right here, she’s a bit too thinly sketched, however DeBose brings actual heat and likability to the half, making Kira straightforward to root for. And there are some attention-grabbing moments as she adjusts to zero gravity.
The movie’s director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, made her identify with the killer whale documentary Blackfish, and brings her documentary-maker’s curiosity to the mechanics of dwelling in area. Sleep is the trickiest factor to acclimatise to, Kira shortly learns; one of many Russians, Nika (Masha Mashkova), exhibits her how you can strap in to a harness at night time. (Warning: some scenes should not appropriate for claustrophobics.)
There’s a “no politics” rule on board the ISS – and the vibe is chummy and collegiate. However inside minutes of the third world struggle breaking out, each the American and Russian crews get orders to grab management of the station “by any means needed”. (Naturally, the villainous Russkies stick the knife in first.) And right here’s the place it will get implausible. Earth is burning under, however principally these astronauts act as if there’s something to play for: a authorities to report back to, or a life to return to. Nobody appears to have an existential freakout about what awaits them in the event that they survive: hunger, thirst, anarchy and a gradual demise.
After all, the carnage on board is supposed to be a microcosm of the mutual destruction under. One killing results in one other; it simply doesn’t make a lot sense. Nonetheless, ISS does ship one knock-out terrific demise in area: a screwdriver to the neck, excellent little bubbles of blood floating prettily away in zero gravity.
