Órbita 9

I really enjoyed this movie, even though the ending was a bit too contrived and bittersweet.

I recommend giving it a shot if you like scifi Spanish movies similar to say, 'Mirage' or are a fan of the twilight zone/black mirror/the outer limits type stories.

From the opening I loved the concept, a sci-fi film with some very subtle twists that offer up a thinking mans film. Unfortunately as we enter into the 3rd act, the film gets bogged down into cliché storytelling and the compelling twists and turns become a Michael Bay attempt at a love story.

There are hints of Blade Runner, EX-Machina, and 2001 mixed into this highly original tale of preparing for our exit from earth to a land far away so that we can survive our own destruction of earth. A woman, is alone on a ship, on her way to Celeste, a planet that can/does have life on it already. We are never sure what her mission really is and that is ok. For reasons made clear early, she has been alone on the ship for 20 years, she is 21 or so years old, how she was cared for as an infant is never really made clear, but its a plot hole very few will take notice of.

Anyway, the time has come for her to get her oxygen fixed which is really code for needed her computer upgraded. Why they cant do this from outside of the ship, is never explained either. However, again, you don't care. Insert hunk of a man who comes to fix the computer. She is immediately smitten with him, as she has not ever really seen another human before, and he is a male. Need I say more.

After a one nighter he leaves, and I guess falls for her. This is where the story sorta falls apart. Their relationship never builds up to what it becomes later in the 3rd act, so the fact that the sacrifices that are made at the end are not earned, we don't really care and thus, forced. With so many nice subtle twists in the film earlier, I was hoping it would have gone in another direction, but it went FULL HOLLYWOOD and thus derailing what could have been interesting and a nice thought film on the future of our species. Instead it chose cliché over substance. Dooming it. Still, there is a lot of nice things about the film, performances, (other than the token evil American) the directing and effects all work really well. Its unfortunate the 3rd act ruins the film.

No spoilers, I promise. :-)

The big reveal is given away too early in the movie, without enough build up or interesting interactions. From there to the next twist, the movie is pretty slow. It makes some future-looking statements but doesn't delve into any detail enough to be truly thought provoking. Just brings up some common SciFi scenarios and then does nothing with it.

A few more not too bad twists and a fun ending make it worth watching, but sad that it could have been much better.

The beautiful Clara Lago is on her way from a ruined Earth to Celeste, and awakes in her space- pod to find someone docking - the first living person she'll meet apart from her deceased parents. But the handsome engineer who visits to fix her oxygen is offhand, even though he kisses her... You can see the first of the twists coming (it's in the trailer) but some of the others are nicely handled. This low-key futuristic Spanish-made adventure has some good ideas, a pleasing score and cool visuals, but the director could have made more of the story's tragic implications.

Twenty minutes in, there is a twist that was kind of obvious. Without spoiling it, it is something that has been done before with various degrees of success, but never caught on. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't move too far from this point on and doesn't bring anything new to the table regarding this particular subgenre. Clara Lago is really beautiful, but there is nothing she could have done to improve on the story. In the end, it feels like a way too long anthology series episode, one idea that has not really taken off as a full movie. The film is well done, the acting is good, my only problem is the simplicity of the plot.