Nova

Enjoyable independent sci-fi film with a compelling narrative about a small crew composed of humans and humanoid robots en route to the Mars colony. Was pleasantly surprised that despite the low budget, the production quality was high enough and consistent throughout the film to keep me captivated. The acting is okay, my favorite actor being the one who played the ship's captain, but also the woman who played the titular character had me forgetting she was human. Also the film handled the challenge of having a young child actress quite well and she did a great job in her role.

All in all a technically solid and fun indie film.

Poor acting, poor choice of cast, poor script, poor dialog. Looks like a student film. The kid did the best acting.

The long eyelashes looked silly, but are needed to distinguish the androids (the 'Uncanny valley').

During the dance with Nova and Abilene, the conversation suggests that Nova volunteered for the mission and Abilene followed. If an android can volunteer, that goes against the premise that androids have no freedom.

Poor acting, poor choice of cast, poor script, poor dialog. Looks like a student film. The kid did the best acting.

Poor acting, poor choice of cast, poor script, poor dialog. Looks like a student film. The kid did the best acting.

Not completely bad, just not good enough to recommend. As usual when this happens the script let everyone down.

So a few good things. I think the acting crew wanted to make a go, and some appeared to have certain talent, but the staging was horrid.

For a low budget film they tried to the best they could for scenery and costumes, I will give them that. I might have even overlooked the incredibly thin. But come on, get a clue. Some of it was so bad you should have added 'comedy' to the genre of the movie (simple example, can the women's lashes be any longer?).

I tried to be nice but I have to mention the completely abysmal script and scripting. I don't care how desperate the crew was to be in 'something', this was one you should have turned down.

A few (or maybe more than a few) tweaks and this could have ben a 3 star production. But not now.

No matter the budget, it's a miracle if you can get a film made and worth it if you have something to say. Nova attempts to ask questions about how we treat our own creations, especially at moments of crisis when the choices only become tougher along the way. Aside from the scenes of peril that offer excitement, Nova works best when it leans on its dramatic aspects, most notably with Lelia Anastasia. Her performance as the Captain leading a doomed ship lends authenticity and dimension to a character with both nobility and bias- especially against the AI of the film- played with haunting understatement in the case of Juliet Chevelle's title character. For a shoestring budgeted sci fi film, it's nice to see that it concerns itself with drama between characters and allowing the performances to be the film's greatest special effect.

The lead character is Abilene Lamb meaning Grassy Meadow Lamb. But his real name is Chase Pollock which is Chasing Fish. It's just SO dry to watch. The acting is REALLY terrible. Luckily these are supposed to be androids but even a robot in our time has simulated emotions. The character outfits are not even plausible for a crew on a present day shuttle or station. (SERIOUSLY Abilene wearing a white lab coat but also a black cowboy hat with that name? Why not make him spit and speak in a slack jawed southern accent?) The fake eyelashes killed all sense of reality (besides the dry acting). I honestly felt like I was pranked into watching a student film off YouTube but under the heading "a serious Movie." I couldn't finish it. My advice is stick to making YouTube videos and it will look average there. But even on YouTube you'd see more effects and acting.

Fun Fact: Most of the cast are named after places, objects, or things.