Asternauts

Earl and Joel are living on their farm together. Joel's unusual hobby, interstellar subspace amateur radio, leads to some tensions between the two brothers as well as to important consequences for Earth. Or does it?

Maybe the point of this science fiction short film is its pointlessness. Or maybe it isn't, and more is going on than Earl and Joel realize? Are the brothers too gullible? Should they have pressed their compensation claim with the NC-lala agents who claimed not to have received relevant training?

This short film reminds me of mid-20th century American science fiction short stories. Like this film, they were often centered more on how future technology might affect ordinary humans than on the technology itself or on porting traditional adventure stories to a future context.

Right, well running at a staggering 15 minutes, of course it is rather limited what could be squeezed out of a short film such as the 2012 short film "Asternauts" from writer Raven Burnett and director Marta Alicia Masferrer. But still, I opted to sit down and watch it, as I hadn't already seen it, and also because its cover was actually interesting enough.

And actually "Asternauts" have very, very limited contents in terms of a storyline. So yeah, you shouldn't go expecting a whole lot here. I actually did expecting writer Raven Burnett to deliver just a tad more than the next to nothing that was presented in "Asternauts".

Sure, the production value and the visual presentation of "Asternauts" was good, no doubt about it. But the total lack of anything interesting in its story department made for a very pointless endeavor of sitting through these 15 minutes. Actually, the movie just starts and then comes to an end, and without having delivered much of anything.

The acting performances in "Asternauts" were actually good, despite of the limited screen time the actors and actresses had. But there definitely were some solid performances here, and they carried the movie quite well, making it bearable to sit through the pointless story.

My rating of the 2012 short film "Asternauts" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

We're fortunate to have incredible short films like Asternauts available at our fingertips in today's internet era. Asternauts is an award-winning production that delivers a lot in just 15 minutes. The story follows two brothers living on their remote small-town farm. One firmly believes in the existence of aliens, while the other is a skeptic. One night, their worldviews are shaken by the arrival of an unexpected object from space that crash-lands in their field, followed by a visit from mysterious women in black.

The two actors shine in their roles as middle-aged, single brothers who've never left their small town and whose lives revolve around their farm and cattle. I'm not sure what the budget for this short film was, but it likely wasn't much. Yet, Asternauts doesn't feel like a low-budget film at all. From the very first scene, it felt like a clip from a full-length sci-fi movie with a bigger budget and professional cast.

What stands out is how much they've packed into 15 minutes. Within the first few minutes, we learn everything we need to understand the story: the differences between the brothers, their hobbies, their views on life, and the daily routines that define them-all of which builds the tension between them. When the extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime event unfolds, it leads to a mind-blowing realization that not only changes their lives but also brings them closer together.

I'd highly recommend Asternauts to anyone who enjoys short films, especially those with a touch of sci-fi, comedy and emotional depth.