Life on Mars

Ilsa (Sofia Boutella), Reza (Jonny Lee Miller), and their daughter Remmy (Brooklynn Prince) are living in a remote settlement by themselves. They are attacked by a group led by Jerry (Ismael Cruz Córdova).

The movie doesn't do a lot of expositions or clarity. It doesn't do flashy things. It's lowkey serious tone and the deliberately stripped down story telling leave the movie feeling a bit empty. There are lots of missed opportunity. It hints at a dangerous world outside. It would have been great to have the characters run around in it.

Not really worth wasting words on this turkey, I beg you, avoid at all costs, where do they get big money to make utter trash like this ??

Like what the headline title said, Settlers is a lame, underwhelming, and overall pretty disappointing Sci-fi flick due to a derivative predictable plot, mediocre performances, really slow clunky pacing that drags on way too long, a nothing score, weak direction, and overall poor execution. The few redeeming qualities this movie has going for include good cinematography, surprisingly solid production values, and despite the poor execution the movie's premise seems interesting.

Movie started off fine, but around 25-30 minutes in it got real stale fast. Not recommended.

That's the best word I can think of to describe this movie...I was so excited to see Johnny Lee Miller in a movie again! But my excitement was short lived (as it was - minor spoiler- his presence in the flick).

The story built up slowly and its tension kept me interested for a while, but after watching too much sulking, and crying and characters doing unreasonable things, by the third act, I lost what little interest I had left.

It didn't help that the girl was annoying as hell and behaved like a little brat and the mother did not seem to know how to deal with her.

By the end it turned from sci-fi to unwarranted melodrama with an unsatisfactory ending, so, why bother?

Good work by Sofía Boutella, though.

...to appreciate this film, and even then it could be better.

Mars does have water, btw, and a breathable atmosphere could be produced through various processes. The huge dome for just one farm is a bit of a stretch.

But this isn't really about Mars, and the sci-fi elements are mainly window dressing.

Many questions are raised, but answers are scant and no more than hints. If you can be patient with that, it tells an interesting story about human nature and desperation, but it is a rather grey and grim story with nothing uplifting.

That, in the end, is why I don't give it more than 5 stars, despite good performances and accomplishing a lot on a limited budget. It's very dystopian, in the most depressing sense.