This came out last night on Netflix. The trailer gave me PROJECT HAIL MARY vibes – A book I absolutely loved. But it’s not really anything like that. A kind of muddled mix of SOLARIS and THE FOUNTAIN, but directed with flourish by Johan Renck (channelling some of the soviet retro-futurism he brought to CHERNOBYL) with lovely production design, a great score by Max Richter (with a guest appearance by Sparks!) and a top-tier cast. Yeah, Adam Sandler may make a lot of terrible movies, but when he actually tries he’s not a bad actor. And the rest of the cast is filled with the kind of people who I would happily watch reading a menu.
It all elevates a script which is sadly… not the best. I read the synopsis of the book it’s based on – SPACEMAN OF BOHEMIA – and it sounds like the film deviates quite a bit from it. I’m not 100% if that makes it better or worse. But overall, this felt like a film that didn’t quite know what it was trying to be. Despite the setting and visuals, it’s definitely not really a sci-fi movie. More an allegorical fantasy. The eastern European setting and cultural references brought to mind Franz Kafka, though it was slightly bizarre having it all played out in English with American, English and French actors. One of those concepts that might have worked better if it had actually been made for a tenth of the budget in Czechoslovakia. As it is, the characters all feel a little underwritten and you never really invested in their story. It certainly pales compared to the the “Beyond the sea” episode in the recent season of BLACK MIRROR.
But It’s worth seeing if you’re a fan of existential fantasy with an arthouse sci-fi flavour. It’s not going to trouble any best-of-the-year lists, but I do know I’m going to be listening to the soundtrack an awful lot.
