In space everyone sees you missing
On paper, the promise is beautiful. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, revealed by her excellent documentary Black fish and former director of two fiction feature films (Megan Leavey AND Our friend), ISS has a good cast, including the charismatic Ariana DeBose, and an interesting talk: What would happen to the Russian-American crew of the International Space Station if a nuclear conflict has broken out between Russia and the United States ?
On paper, therefore, we could expect a film that mixes disaster film, closed-door thriller and human drama. On the screen, however, if we find these elements, nothing or almost nothing works.
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ISSfree-falling space drama
Aerospace engineers are fond of saying that “space wants to kill youAn environment of extreme hostility, where the slightest mistake can therefore kill in a fraction of a second, and this is what happens quickly to ISS. In it, two American astronauts join the ISS, where three Russians and one American are already there. But as soon as we arrived, after exchanging the hoped-for welcome and a few words, a nuclear conflict broke out on Earth between Russia and the United States. The same message then reaches the Russians and the Americans: take control of the station, in any case.
The Russians are the first to act – they are therefore the “bad guys”, before the director blurs the antagonism too late – and the Americans seem in trouble. Paradox, we get bored quickly but the film wishes we didn’t have time to catch our breath. But it is for a matter of narrative structure: Kira, played by Ariana DeBose, is the protagonist, and is its moral dilemma that sets the pace. Should he save only his fellow countrymen, risking everyone dying, or should he cooperate, which implies saving all of humanity? Problem: These astronauts act with astonishing silliness, and so viewers are easily a time or two ahead of the movie.
Disaster film and thriller with Cold War overtones, ISS he would like to do everything but he can’t. The dialogues are unfounded and overly explanatory, the actions are too immediate to be coherent, the metaphors are crude and the cast doesn’t seem to quite believe the story. However, there is talent in this casting, to surround the actress with West Side History including Pilou Asbæk, Chris Messina and John Gallagher Jr.. In addition to the order to kill each other, the characters ofISS must prevent the station from crashing and try to reach the Earth using the Soyuz module. Not everyone manages to get in, and we ask ourselves the question: what’s the point, given that the Earth appears in the portholes? devastated by nuclear fire ?
Without idea and without goal
There was still work to be done, focusing on one aspect rather than stirring up an insipid hodgepodge of motley inspirations. With no real ideas for staging, we barely hear the camera. No feeling of suffocation, claustrophobia, no game of forced promiscuity… Without any metaphysical ambition – space lends itself well to this -, replies the ISS decreasing a largely obsolete conflict, to take the final form of a decent late night TV movie.
In short, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, a specialist in telling true events, in her film only succeeds in what is truthful: the appearance of the International Space Station. The decorations inside seem so authentic, the rules of life to which even its occupants are subject. Also, the weightlessness effect is rendered quite well. Interesting facts and attention to reality – more than realism – but that serve absolutely nothing in this clumsy genre narrative. It is therefore too little to hold back fromISS something other than the feeling of wasting time.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
