Life in 500(ish) Words: Movie Thoughts

* Spoilers Ahead *

Life is a sci-fi/horror film directed by Daniel Espinosa that came out last year and I finally got around to seeing it this past weekend. Ever since I saw Alien and Event Horizon as a teen, “space horror” has always been a genre that piques my interest. Something about the concept of having humanity at the cutting edge of scientific potential yet being completely helpless in the face of alien or cosmic horrors hits me right in the Lovecraftian spot and I always enjoy seeing this setting explored in films. Life is another entry in this setting, showing us the potentially disastrous first contact with alien lifeforms. How was it? Not too bad, actually.

Life follows a crew of six (including Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Fergusson) aboard the International Space Station as they encounter the first extraterrestrial lifeform recorded: an ever-evolving entity dubbed “Calvin” that quickly begins wreaking havoc on the Station and threatens the lives of not just the crew, but of the entire Earth itself. So its sci-fi business as usual, really. It is an interesting film though, both starting and ending in really good ways. From the opening shots of the crew retrieving the Pilgrim 7 probe to the initial mystery of what Calvin is, it’s a solid setup for what’s to come next. Throw in the added twist of having the most billable star on the movie poster die first (and quite horrifically, at that) and it’s really hooked you in.

I.S.S. Engineer Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada) cornered by "Calvin"

What follows is a pretty average second act, where things quickly go wrong for the I.S.S. crew in very Alien-like ways. I feel like the film began losing steam after Reynolds’ death though, despite solid performances by the cast and great visuals on the Station/space in general. Perhaps it’s just the all-too-familiar setting of “monster kills the cast one by one”, but I did lose interest in the film a little during the middle of it. However, the escalating peril and stakes ultimately lead to one hell of a downer ending, both for the characters and the world at large. It is a dark ending for sure, but I appreciate when a movie is willing to not go for the happy ending sometimes. I’ve seen comparisons made between this and last year’s Alien Covenant and I do see some of the similarities. If nothing else, it does reflect my only real issue with Life: it’s all stuff we’ve seen before. It’s the threat of Alien, the modern space setting of Gravity and the visuals of Interstellar. Far from bad, but hardly original.

Overall, Life isn’t the kind of movie that’s going to fundamentally change you, but it’s an enjoyable sci-fi thriller with enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. If you’re a fan of “science-horror” like me, it’s worth a watch sometime. Even if you’re not, there are certainly far worse things to spend two hours on.

More to come!
O.N.