Friday, May 7, 2021

Stowaway (2021)



Streaming Services: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Stowaway (2021)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length:  116 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: Augenschein Filmproduktion, RainMaker Films, Yale Productions, Black Canopy Films, MMC Movies, Phiphen Pictures, RISE PICTURES, Stage 6 Films, XYZ Films, Dutch FilmWorks, Elevation Pictures, Falcon Films, Falcon, InterCom, Kinepolis Film Distribution, Sony Pictures Releasing Australia, Sony Pictures Releasing, Ster-Kinekor Pictures, United International Pictures, Volga Film Ukraine, Volga, Netflix
Director: Joe Penna
Writers: Joe Penna, Ryan Morrison
Actors: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, Toni Collette
 
Blurb from IMDb:  A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
Selina and I both had Stowaway listed within our Top 10 out of April’s Top 20 Movies to Look Out For article. Needless to say, I was really excited to watch this movie and glad it was offered on Netflix. (I still can’t make it out to theaters out of an abundance of caution due to my compromised immune system.)
 
The cast sold this movie for me, even if it wasn’t a science-fiction space drama. All of those things are right in my wheelhouse, too. When you mention that Anna Kendrick (Table 19, A Simple Favor, Trolls World Tour), Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-0, Hellboy, New Amsterdam), and Toni Collette (Hereditary, Velvet Buzzsaw, Knives Out) are involved, I’m all in; regardless of the setting. I’m not as familiar with Shamier Anderson (The Barrens, Wynona Earp, Bruised), but he gave a stellar performance here.

 
I appreciate that this production did its best to get the science aspects correct – even if they missed a few things, like correct directional drift in space for items and the presence of system redundancies in real spacecraft, and embellished others for the sake of the movie. I can generally overlook that. Everything was visually stunning and brought the desired impact to the story.
 
Ultimately, this premise was less about space exploration and more about the moral issue at hand when the necessity of air is called into question. How much is a life worth? What makes an individual important? How does one decide? How do the characters handle the pressure and weight of that decision? What will the central mission command tell the crew to do? I’m obviously not going to answer that for you, though.
 
While the story played out in a rather predictable manner, I found I didn’t mind. The caliber of the acting and the pathos of the story gripped me and the visuals offered a dazzling backdrop. Of course, I can’t say that this is the best space-themed movie that I’ve seen; but I can tell you that I wouldn’t mind watching it again and would definitely offer it as a recommendation.


Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 77%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 53%
Metascore – 63%
Metacritic User Score – 5/10
IMDB Score – 5.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

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