Spotlight Report
Lord of the Flies on a spaceship. That’s more or less it.
Set in a world that’s dying of drought and disease, thirty children are created in vitro from eugenically-selected donors and raised within the confines of the facility. When they are old enough, they’re put on a generation ship that will take them and their children on an 86-year journey to a new planet that their grandchildren will colonise to ensure the survival of the species. Educated to be a fully self-reliant society, they are nevertheless accompanied by one of their teachers Richard (Colin Farrell), who volunteers to supervise them. When things go wrong, as you might expect with lab-raised people, the confines of the ship turn into a barbaric dystopia ruled by madness and superstition.
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This psychological thriller, set in space, enters theaters this week.
• 5 min read
A scene from Voyagers.
For everyone eager to return to life in all its infinite pleasures after a pandemic, Voyagers is bound to touch a nerve.
This psychological thriller, set in space and entering theaters this week, is all about what happens to our heads and hearts after we emerge from a lockdown.
Sadly, the usually astute writer-director Neil Burger ( The Illusionist, Limitless, The Upside ) botches his provocative premise: What if 30 test-tube babies who never see sunshine or the outside world are sent on a space mission to colonize a new planet since Earth has been infected and climate-changed into near oblivion.
Photo by Vlad Cioplea Plenty of films have dealt with the possibility of another habitable planet in the universe, as well as the existential need for such a place given how humans have not treated the Earth well over the course of history. While some films go the philosophical route or explore the dangers of space travel, the makers of the new film
Voyagers figured they would be different and just make it about horny and angry teenagers. In the world of the film, humanity has come up with a plan to send a group of people to a newly discovered Earth-like planet after Earth has grown too hot and filled with drought and disease to sustain life. But because it will take 86 years to reach said planet, the group is made up almost entirely of young people, born and raised in isolation, whose children and grandchildren will be the ones to actually set foot on the new world.
A group of gorgeous young people give into their most primal urges on a decades-long, interplanetary journey in “Voyagers.” And if that sounds like sexy
Lord of the Flies in space, well . it is. But despite the familiar nature of the themes writer/director Neil Burger is exploring, his film still offers plenty of tension and his trademark visual panache.
Similar to his “Limitless” from a decade ago the film that showed the world Bradley Cooper was a serious actor and not just a pretty face Burger tells a story about what happens when people tap into their heightened, true selves, for better and for worse. Instead of taking a drug, though, they eliminate one from their systems: a daily drink they refer to as “The Blue.” These astronauts think it’s a vitamin supplement to fortify them for the long haul, but it actually evens them out and suppresses negative tendencies like jealousy and rage. It’s supposedly all for the greater good, though, in Burger’s streamlined
Voyagers review: Lord of the Flies in space, with polygon.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from polygon.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.