Oxigênio

"Oxygen" is a Drama - Sci-Fi movie in which we watch a woman waking up in a cryogenic chamber without remembering anything from her life or even who she is. She has to remember fast because her oxygen level is dropping rapidly and there is not much time.

Despite the simple plot of the movie, it was very interesting and it had much of suspense through its whole duration. The direction which was made by Alexandre Aja was very good and he presented very well the whole concept of the movie and the main idea behind his main character. In addition to this, the interpretation of Mélanie Laurent who played as Elizabeth 'Liz' Hansen was simply amazing and she made the difference. The selection of Mathieu Amalric as voice of M. I. L. O. was an excellent choice and fitted very well. All in all, I have to say that "Oxygen" is an interesting Sci-Fi movie and I highly recommend everyone to watch it.

What I loved about this movie was the uncertainty of where the movie was going to. Where is the pod? Who is she? Will she get out? It makes you committed to keep watching! This movie reminded me of the movie 'Cube' another brilliant movie!

I went in to this film knowing nothing about it and that's probably the best way to watch it. There is nothing new in Oxygene, most of it rethreads old ground but as it's story unfolds it remains engaging from start to finished. This is greatly helped by Melanie Laurent's fantastic central performance. Pretty good story, lovely visuals and score and, as I said previously, a great central performance elevate what could have been mediocre fare to some decent sci-fi with a nice emotional payoff. Well worth your time.

As this film opens a woman wakes in an airtight medical cryogenic chamber. She has no idea who she is or how she got there... or even where 'there' is. The unit is controlled by an artificial intelligence called MILO; this informs her that due to an unspecified problem she is rapidly running out of oxygen. If she is to survive she will have to recover enough of her memories to learn about the situation she is in... and avoid some of MILO's attempts to make her little remaining time more comfortable.

Going into this film I'd say the less you know the better; there are some good twists and it is best one learns facts at the same time as our protagonist. The film is, apart from a few brief flashbacks, set almost entirely within the cramped pod; this gives an impressively claustrophobic feel to proceedings. The more we learn the greater the sense of hopelessness. Mélanie Laurent does a really fine job as our protagonist; you can feel both her anguish, fear and occasional optimism as situations change. The inside of the pod is well designed; large enough for some movement but not enough for full movement. Overall a solid film for sci-fi fans who don't demand lots of action.

These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles.

The good: The plot/promise is simple, but the movie does a lot with a little. The engaging performance of the lead coupled with a trickle feed of twists and turns help the movie clip along at a brisk pace considering the very limited set pieces. The movie doesn't try to subvert expectations of the genre and just plays to its strengths, based off its premise/hook.

The bad: The movie does broach some meaty subject matter but does absolutely nothing with it. I don't blame the creators but don't expect any poignant introspects into the human psyche. This movie plays it straight and narrow. I also have to call out some logic/plot holes which are obviously there to push the story forward (create conflict) but took me out of the film.

Should you watch it: Lately, I'm leaning more towards shorter movies as I dislike scenes that are superfluous and add nothing to the film but a bloated runtime. This is not one of those movies. At just over 1.5 hours the movie concludes satisfactorily and is a decent enough trip for those who are fans of the mystery/sci fi genre.