I.S.S. turns Arian DeBose into a space warrior, but it needs more time to reach the stars.
Tensions flare shortly aboard the International Space Station when a worldwide conflict occurs on Earth. Soon, the U.S. and Russian astronauts each receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.
Without including the credit, the movie clocks in at about 90 minutes, which doesn’t give the film a lot of time to invest in things, but it helps to an extent with the pacing and gives a refreshing concise feeling.
The film has a strong cast for a very character-focused film and enjoyed the the crew and the psychological thriller that was assembled for this story. John Gallagher Jr. is great in his role with the neurotic personality and the composure required for the role which made for a pretty engaging character to try and spice things up. Chris Messina was good and his character held some strength and guts when a few moments called for it but I felt he wasn’t utilized enough, primarily in the latter half of the film. Ariana DeBose was the star of the film, holding most of the character development with a story to tell and kind of telling it. More time was needed for sure, but she was a stronger inclusion than some of the others. The rest of the cast deserves a shoutout as well, each of them adding something to help round out the cast but again more time was needed to get into their characters.
There is no popular track set or original songs pumping out of the speakers, but instead, the film goes back to some of the classic elements and uses them to establish a lot of the tone of the film. They use the symphony to provide the feeling of terror and add to the claustrophobic intensity of the movie. Some psychological tones laced in the violin work are mixed in to bring in something simple, yet empowering which helps add to the experience.
The film’s cinematography is gorgeous and truly captures the scope of the I.S.S. Beautiful outside shots give you the grandiosity of the world below and the situation below that holds a gorgeous effect that is terrifying and majestic at the same time. The perspective changes a lot inside the station which helps change the tone of the film and evolves into something you will either hate or love depending on how much you love the beginning of the film. Throughout it all though, you get the emotions in the shots, you feel every angle and action as the camera shifts and finds just the right spot and captures the life inside the station and more.
It’s a Sci-Fi-type movie that holds more merit than fantasy which helps add to the theme of the film. Much of the film is believable and gives the characters merit which helps add more suspense and mystery to them. Keeping themselves grounded to a degree was worth it and helped connect so much of the thriller element to it.
The character testing held a lot of potential for some good storytelling given what was going to be tested. What starts as one goal, quickly turns into moments that test their fortitude, willpower, loyalty, and more. But, like I said before, was fully reached.
Overall, I.S.S. was beautiful on so many levels and showed the talent of the director and his team to make being in space come alive. A fantastic collection of shots, CGI work, and editing brought the emotions of the space station during this rather charged stretch of events. The acting brings out the taxation of the station and gives us characters we want to explore and learn more about as they tackle these tests provided to them. Add in that musical element to enhance the factors and this shows the effects that Hollywood technology can place on you with the right guidance and use. However, a short runtime doesn’t do the film justice to fully deliver on all the buildup and promise of the story. There were these facets of moral testing and inner characters that were natural and realistic, but there was so much more that could have been done that another half an hour could have taken given the amount they were putting in.
I.S.S. is now playing in theaters.
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