Prospect : L'Ambre de la lune verte

Thoroughly enjoyable: a lean, tense, slow burn sci-fi film that builds to an exciting crescendo.

It's a story about a father and daughter who go to an alien planet to do some prospecting. That's all you need to know, and should know, as there are some plot twists that should be left unspoiled. Trust me.

The movie's well directed and written, besides some clunky dialogue in spots, and the world is artfully rendered. It's made on a budget, so there aren't any extravagant sets or creatures, but it does feature lived in, authentic looking technology and an atmospheric alien environment (reminiscent of Annihilation, but a tad more Alien).

The performances were all very good, Sophie Thatcher and Pedro Pascal, being the standouts.

If I had to describe it, I'd say Prospect is an old-fashioned western set in space, with a touch of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (another movie about prospectors). And though it's no Star-Wars, or Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Prospect IS a very good movie. Well worth a watch.

Prospect is a slow burn of a film. It's the kind of film that asks for a viewer who is willing to appreciate the subtle but deft world-building and peculiarly literate dialog. This is not cheap-thrills scifi, but neither is it navel gazing pedantry. It's a clear story of an often tense struggle in a treacherous and foreign setting.

It is slow, but it is not a slog; on the contrary I found it to be very well-paced. We're never in one place very long, either literally or narratively.

All the acting is good to very good. The photography is excellent. The budget (~3mil) was used well and I found all the props, costumes and effects to be really quite convincing.

I'm glad I took a chance with this one. It paid off.

Prospect, directed by Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell, is a tale you could see on the fringes of a larger story. It tells about a young teenage girl, played by Sophie Thatcher, who lands on a distant planet with her dad (Jay Duplass), to hunt and harvest precious gemstones that might be their ticket to better life and prosperity. But, on the outer planets, you run into all sorts of danger.

Prospect is not a large story. Its about a single life, single girl, trying to survive a horrible situation. This story could be told in many ways. It could be a three page short story in a pulp magazine focusing on westerns. It could be a side plot on a TV series. It could be a whole novel, if you padded it and fleshed it out, but even then there's not that much to bite on.

And that's exactly why the film is so refreshing. Because it is such a rare piece, because it chooses to focus on a smaller story. And because it such a well-told narrative, it manages to make such a story feel grander than it is.

It helps that the film is brilliantly made. You can very easily see the limitations of the budget, but fortunately modern effects are so good that you can tell a science fiction story, set on a distant planet, and make it seem real even if you don't have the budget for huge sets and elaborate props.

The acting is also surprisingly good. Thatcher plays her character very mellow, very low-key, but it works. Pedro Pascal as Ezra, a mercenary harvester, is also brilliant. Just the right amount of quirk mixed with world-weariness.

Prospect is an easy recommendation if you're a fan of the science fiction genre. Beautiful visuals, interesting scenarios, great world-building and off-beat story moments. What's not to like?

Damon and his teenage daughter, Cee, are heading to a forested moon where they hope to strike it rich prospecting for precious gems. It won't be easy though; the air must be filtered due to toxic spores and anybody they encounter is unlikely to be friendly. Things go wrong from the start; their lander is damaged as they enter the atmosphere and they miss their intended landing site by some way. An early encounter leaves Cee on her own; if she is to survive and get off the moon again she will have to make an unlikely alliance.

I rather enjoyed this film; it might not be a classic and was clearly made for a relatively small amount but the story is solid in a fairly simply way. It may be set on a distant moon but the plot could come straight from a western. It is somewhat episodic with our protagonist facing a series of dangers that she must overcome but that isn't a problem. The tension is kept fairly high as there is always some danger to be overcome. The small cast does a solid job; most obviously Sophie Thatcher who really impressed as Cee; a character who toughens up nicely as she overcomes various dangers. Also notable are Pedro Pascal as Ezra and Jay Duplass as Damon. There aren't too many special effects but those that there are are pretty good in an unshowy way. The setting looks good; the forest being lush but also somewhat claustrophobic; one can't help feeling it would be easy to get lost there. Overall an enjoyable little sci-fi that is well worth watching.

Modern science fiction films are, mostly, not really science fiction at all. Most of it is really space-fantasy, with laser cannons, explosions, space craft zipping around, fantastic monsters/aliens, etc. None of that is found in "Prospect." This film is grounded in a gritty reality that is extremely believable, more so than in any science fiction film I can remember seeing. In the novel world, stories that stick to some semblance of known scientific fact are known as "hard" sci-fi. Now, to be fair, there isn't a lot of science on display in "Prospect" - it's mostly action, but I will take what I can get! In case you can't tell, I've very much in favour of there being more films like this out there.

I very grudgingly rate this a 7 instead of an 8 or higher mostly for technical / production reasons, that are perhaps in turn due to budget compromises. Special effects, music, and perhaps a bit of the acting was a little b-movie at times. But I quickly got over it and was sucked into the story.

Also Star Wars writers take note: the main female character "Cee" is someone that the audience really roots for by the end of the film. Why? Because instead of being all knowing and all powerful right from the start, her character develops. Some of the characterization was a little lean, and I felt another 10 minutes of screen time devoted to fleshing out the father would have really helped the film, but these are minor nitpicks. Give us more films like this, please!