‘Stowaway’ Review: Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette in a Catchy Outer-Space Morality Play Variety 2 hrs ago
What’s the thing that a good movie director does? In a way, that’s a silly question, since good directors do a thousand things, and filmmakers are diverse creatures. But in an age of freeze-dried blockbuster storytelling, it’s important to remind yourself that a good director leads you through a story step by step, moment by moment, always creating an honest immersion out of human dynamics.
Joe Penna is that kind of director. He’s a natural; whatever “it” is, he’s got it. “Stowaway” is only his second feature, and like the first, “Arctic” (2018), which starred Mads Mikkelsen as an explorer stranded in the frozen wilderness, it’s a tale of survival in extreme circumstances. This one is an outer-space adventure, which these days makes you think that it must be a spectacle film. But
It s not that I hated Nikole Beckwith s
Together, Together, but man, did it irritate me. Like a slow drag of fingernails across a chalkboard that steadily increases in volume until your hair stands on end, the film is a long slog to nowhere with one of the most aggravating practitioners of passive-aggressive behavior you re likely to meet. That would be Matt (Ed Helms), a single guy in his 40s who longs to be a father and decides to hire a surrogate to help him to that end. That poor soul would be Anna (Patti Harrison), a not particularly responsible young woman who just wants to make a quick buck.
Stowaway Is as Slow-Paced as an Actual Mission to Mars Directed by Joe Penna
Starring Toni Collette, Daniel Dae Kim, Anna Kendrick, Shamier Anderson
6
For a sci-fi thriller about an ill-fated mission to Mars,
Stowaway misses a lot of opportunities to be exciting. These two hours are about as slow-paced as an actual mission to Mars there s simmering tension and worry about all the things that could go wrong, but mostly it s a lot of sitting around, problem-solving and routine chores.
Ship commander Marina (Toni Collette), doctor Zoe (Anna Kendrick) and biologist David (Daniel Dae Kim) are on a mission to Mars at an indeterminate point in the near future. The ship s resources are already stretched thin with three astronauts but their situation goes from tricky to impossible when they discover Michael (Shamier Anderson), a launch plan engineer who fell into a crevice of the ship and suffered a concussion before takeoff.
Stowaway Review: Netflix s Tense Mission-To-Mars Movie Presents a Surprisingly Down-to-Earth Moral Dilemma
In space, no one can hear you decide who lives and who dies Jordan Hoffman
April 22, 2021, 12:01 a.m. PT
Here s a tip: don t go to space. There s no air, there are solar flares and, in case you had not heard, once there, no one can hear you scream.
But then again, Mars is just sitting there (okay, revolving around the sun) ready to be made adaptable to human life.
Stowaway exists in a not-too-distant time (they still use the word selfies ) when Martian colonization isn t a dream it s happening and it s working. It s just that getting there remains a big pain in the ass.
Sci-fi of the thoughtful, (sometimes too) slow-paced variety.
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4/23/2021
Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim star in Joe Penna s Netflix thriller about the crew of a space mission facing a perilous situation.
It s a wonder that anyone is still interested in becoming an astronaut after the procession of cinematic calamities that have befallen space travelers over the years. Netflix seems to be pursuing a specialty in the genre, with
Stowaway arriving shortly on the heels of the apocalyptic George Clooney starrer
The Midnight Sky. Joe Penna s sophomore feature clearly owes a debt to 1969 s
Marooned in its depiction of a small space crew dealing with a life-threatening crisis.