Light

I watched this thinking a review rating of 2.8 mighty justify a view. I was wrong. 2.8 is far above and beyond what this film deserves. Everything about it was bad. The plot sketchy, the acting almost non-existent due to the characters in spacesuits with only their faces visible though the visors, also making movement slow and ponderous, filmed in excruciating detail as each step is meticulously followed across a flat, barren slightly stony landscape, but with the permanent fog it is difficult to work out where they are coming from or aiming to get to. And the fairy lights should have stayed on someone's Christmas tree rather than finding their was into the prop box for a science fiction film. I didn't think a science fiction film could get much worse than the dreadfully dreary Spaceman where the Spaceman in question spends most of the film in banal conversation with a giant spider, or the underwhelming and at times quite boring DUNE remake, but this one is far, far more boring than either. What's gone wrong with science fiction filming making?

I love long movies. But this story was definitely destined to be a short film. One in a compilation of many, perhaps.

I would give it more stars if it was that.

I get it. They used close-ups and fog all through the movie because of budget constraints. They could have done more by using the same budget for a much shorter movie (or indeed just a short film of about 35 minutes or less).

The acting is fine, no issue with that. The camerawork is fine, although they were forced to use the minboggingly constant closeup shots. The soundtrack is fine, but again it would have worked if it was a short film. It just drones on.

You glance at how far through the movie you got and it's a only half. Wow.

This was definitely a budget Sci Fi film; but having a tight budget is no crime. The premise reminds me of the Sci Fi short stories I used to voraciously consume as a teenager and a young adult. The subject is tightly contained, there's an air of discomfort and oppression, and there's a disturbing twist. I think the acting was fine especially given the constraints of the survival suits they were required to wear, the sense of claustrophobia was palpable, and the story was original (although there were a lot of elements nicked from elsewhere). What ruins it is its length. This should have been a short. And there was a bizarrely hammy interaction near the end with a new character and some hand signals. However, I'm still thinking about the plot the next day - which is a good sign.

I love SciFi movies. But after watching this, I'm not sure I want to waste my time EVER watching another. That's how bad this was. The back and forth half-communication to stir up drama was lacking. The plot, if you can call it that was subpar at BEST!! The story telling was choppy. After falling asleep in the movie, I rewound it to see what I missed, and I really could have just let it end. This was a waste of time and I literally had nothing else to do.

They want me to use 600 words minimum in my review in order for it to be posted. There's literally nothing else I can say about this movie.

Deep sigh. Believe me I really didnt want to review this movie, but it was SUCH a disappointment that I had to WARN others who might make the mistake to actually pay for this cheap and inferior copycat.

The bad: bring a search light, because this movie is SO incredibly sparsly lit (no pun intended) that you dont see much at all during the ENTIRE movie. Using dark lighting techniques is an effective way of covering up that there is no money available for good looking sets. But they went to the extreme with these dark looking sets. Terribly annoying to watch!

The really bad: let's forget about the fact that one cant see anyhting, let's judge what we CAN see in the dark and that is these actors trying to perform in HELMETS all the time. Oh man, does this look silly.

Please avoid. You have been warned. This is nothing more than a cheap and inferior copycat of other much better scifi movies.