Vesper Chronicles

In a bleak dystopian world, a thirteen year old girl must survive in a world where citadels containing powerful oligarchs live, controlling the seeds that provide food supplies for those struggling outside on the planet. A smart cookie, she has a number of special skills including an understanding of bio-hacking which she must make use of if she is to beat her power crazy uncle, the excellent Eddie Marsan, the oligarchs and keep her father, who operates through a floating android, alive.

Whilst it could be argued that this intelligent almost evangelical sci-fi thriller suffers slightly through lack of budget, it's effects are sparingly used and are all the more impressive because of it. The performances, particularly from the young girl, Raffiella Chapman are strong, but the most impressive element is the clever mix of intelligent and convincing sci-fi ideas. A wildly over the top Hollywood sci-fi epic remake will surely follow.

I'm really surprised that this film is not more well known even though I myself had never heard of it! It has a fascinating production design with many unusual, interesting, original and beautiful special effects. The entire film is well made with a very original vision and the lead actress, a young woman named Raffiella Chapman helps a lot with a very solid performance and the rest of the principle cast is fine. This apocalyptic tale also has a very good cinematography and is well directed. It does get a little lost in the latter half though I thought it ended on a strong as well as intriguing note.

It's a pretty ambitious attempt, imperfect but I loved it. Most important thing is it needs a sequel to explain everything, because you're just thrown into it with a vague introduction to this dystopian future, you don't get to explore the vastness of this sci-fi world. It's not so unfamiliar though, there hints and cues to help you imagine what life is like outside of those the niche story focuses on, there's so many little side plots that you wouldn't usually pay attention to. When you hear sci-fi especially if you usually only watch movies you might think more of flashy, space travel or aliens, light sabers... but this is the gloomy type that's more accustomed to in tv series, for me at least. So you might be disappointed if you're expecting that. Cinematography is great, despite the bleak setting there's still so much beauty nature offers.

Biggest problem is we don't learn much and there's huge lack of details, but it's a well made low budget sci-fi that deserves a sequel for that reason. To explore the work it's based in. Love dark science fiction.

It's nothing like game of thrones but I'm trying to think of an analogy that'd be widely accepted, so imagine instead of focusing on Westeros affairs, it focuses on a little girl and her father, living on their own in a village in the middle of nowhere. You don't get a picture of the grand scale of things, just a really small piece of a puzzle. That's why I think turning this into a franchise has great potential, because their dystopian future has so much more to explore. The problem is this doesn't feel like a first movie. More like a solo entry to an already established film franchise.

It's something new, a breath of fresh air(gloomy one) and for that I fear that it'll land in the same shoes as Mortal Engines which I loved, because it won't be as widely appreciated by audiences enough to warrant a franchise or even a sequel to explore everything this dystopian world has to offer.

So there are some reviews that give this movie a low rating because there are not enough dumb explosions and one dimensional characterisation. After sitting through so many sci fi movies with huge plot holes and mind bending science errors it's nice to see a film that is at least attempting to do something with more soul. There are complaints that it is slow but this is just because we have been brainwashed into accepting flash bang fluff made for the minuscule attention span of the average American. For me it never felt slow but considered. The acting is great, the story nothing new but well delivered and the dystopian world entirely convincing. Compared to Jordan Peele's sci fi misfire 'Nope', it's masterpiece.

I'm surprised at some of the negative reviews. I think they're thinking in terms of what makes a movie popular and successful at the box office, not what is successful in terms of a piece of literature or art. The narrative back story is subtle, not obvious. So if you're going to do social media on your phone while watching it, you're going to get bored or confused quite quickly. This one is like reading a book on the screen. They're not common but I loved the vibe. It's striking and doesn't over do the sci-fi elements as they paint the atmosphere, not the story. Acting is top notch. Some of these younger stars will be seen more of for sure. First thing I did after watching it was searching if it's a book.