Shortly after launch, a crew on a mission to Mars are surprised to discover a member of the ground crew aboard their ship, unconscious. What begins as an awkward situation in which the three astronauts must adjust to life with their unexpected new team member, soon becomes a life-threatening situation when the ship is damaged.
This is one of those Hollywood situations that hopefully will never happen; one minute you're working, the next you're waking up on a spaceship on its way to Mars. It's strange then that no real time is spent establishing how on Earth - or anywhere else, for that matter - something like this could ever happen. Although it does raise some interesting questions about privatised space travel and oversight. I mean, hopefully space agencies like NASA account for all members of their ground crew before launch. But once you get past the mysterious course of events that lead to this whole mess, or should I say the lack thereof, Stowaway develops into an interesting character drama with an interesting moral quandary at its centre. In fact it's fair to say that this is more moral dilemma than sci-fi thriller.
The question of whether one life is more valuable than another may have been done before, but where Stowaway really excels is in the sense of isolation that comes with it. In keeping things onboard the ship, director Joe Penna - who draws on his experience making Arctic - gives audiences some idea of the loneliness that comes with deep space travel. As much as the team back on Earth are on hand to offer help, the crew are essentially on their own - something that's emphasised by the fact we only see the crew's side of communications with the folks back home. That ship, made up of some incredibly realistic looking sets, begins to feel like an increasing small place, with the loneliness eventually giving way to claustrophobia as the crew try to deal with their nightmare situation.
Unfortunately, with this being more moral dilemma than thriller there is an awful lot of waiting around for something to happen. Whereas in movies like The Martian or Interstellar the moments of thinking or worrying are broken up with a little action, there is nothing like that here. That said, Penna does at least avoid a particular trap that is one of Hollywood's biggest clichés; early on a certain character mentions something that would usually mark them for death (or at least serious injury), so it's actually quite refreshing to see events take a different course. While the crew try to figure out what to do - something that looks more like worrying rather than actual figuring - you get the sense that we are simply waiting for them to get to the point where they have do something that's incredibly risky, with a slim chance of success. Which is something the movie does eventually deliver on, with an incredibly tense space walk.
Another thing Penna took from his time on Arctic is working with a small cast. And what a cast he has! Given the lack of action, there's a lot more pressure on this cast of four to carry the movie, and carry it they do. Despite being on a fictional spaceship headed to Mars, these characters feel very real, with a dilemma that's as relatable as it is scary. However, it's not all doom and gloom, there are in fact moments of levity and incredible warmth. In fact, the way the crew bond and try to make their unexpected fourth member feel like part of the team (before they realise the problem that lies ahead) is actually quite heart-warming, something that makes it almost gut-wrenching when they begin to consider the unthinkable. Watching their characters think and worry may go on a little long, but that doesn't detract from the incredible performances or the horrible scenario in which these characters find themselves. In fact, it's morbidly fascinating to watch them contemplate death, survival, sacrifice, and what they think they can live with.
Despite going on a little long, the four magnificent performances make Stowaway a tense sci-fi drama with a horrifying moral dilemma at its heart.
6/10
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