Film Review - I.S.S.
The horribly plausible premise is largely squandered, but Gabriela Cowperthwaite's sci-fi thriller still scrapes a passing grade
I.S.S. is a B-movie that proves just about passable with a certain generosity of spirit. Provided one doesn’t approach Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s sci-fi thriller with grandiose expectations, the box marked “modestly entertaining” will be duly ticked. Just don’t expect Gravity (2013), let alone 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); a film which, unfortunately, I.S.S. tries to emulate in one key sequence. It’s never a good idea to evoke iconic scenes from landmark classics as you risk making the viewer wish they were watching them instead.
Set on the International Space Station (per the titular acronym), the film concerns a sextet of scientists. US newcomer Dr Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) joins fellow countrymen Christian Campbell (John Gallagher Jr) and Gordon Barrett (Chris Messina). Perhaps the latter should have been called “Gordon Bennett” given entirely predictable plot developments. Anyway, this astronaut trio mingle with a cosmonaut trio, with Russians Weronika Vetrov (Masha Mashkova), Nicholai Pulov (Costa Ronin), and Alexey Pulov (Pilou Asbæk), playing nicely with their American station-mates.
The decidedly on-the-nose use of “Winds of Change” by Scorpions cynically foreshadows what is to come, as does an experiment with mice in zero gravity, who wind up turning on one another. What’s coming? Well, the trailer spoils it, but I’m slightly reluctant to reveal the big Act One climax. Suffice it to say, a pretty damned monumental plot turn causes an escalation in paranoia, mistrust, sabotage, and escalation into violence.
Perhaps I’m being overcautious in not revealing this event, as emotional investment in these thinly drawn characters is difficult. It’s fairly clear from the start who is going to be sensible and who is going to go space bonkers. Kira’s character arc of going from not trusting anyone to being forced to trust in order to survive is just as blatantly telegraphed by Nick Shafir’s screenplay. Still, it plays out in a moderately absorbing fashion, despite predictability, aided by the claustrophobic setting.
One thing that doesn’t work in the film’s favour is some of the choppy editing. For no particular reason, Cowperthwaite keeps cutting to grainy surveillance footage, which has the effect of removing the viewer from immersion in the drama with a disconcerting lurch. No one is monitoring these surveillance cameras, nor do they play any part in the plot, so cutting to them gives them a significance they don’t deserve.
On the other hand, performances are passable, and at a trim 95 minutes, the film doesn’t outstay its welcome. The horribly plausible premise, which I am still reticent to reveal, had the potential to be riveting, but its effect on the characters is seldom explored with any potency. The implications are mind-boggling, but rarely is the mind boggled, and the ending is a damp squib. All that said, if approached with a B-movie-ish mindset, I.S.S. isn’t a dead loss, and passes the time amiably enough.
(Originally published at Medium.)
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I enjoyed it. Like you said, it passed the time and didn't outstay it's welcome.
They still make B movies in Hollywood- only now they have bigger budgets...