Science Fiction

Thriller

I.S.S.

LD Entertainment

United States of America

English

Pусский

Ariana DeBose

Chris Messina

John Gallagher Jr.

Masha Mashkova

Costa Ronin

Pilou Asbæk

Sean Vawter

Mark Cacciatore

Cat Dawson

Colin Patton

Maria Bentfield

Kevin Hardison

Alison Semenza

Nick Remy Matthews

Mitchell Grobman

Brandon Arrington

Joseph Middleton

Mehrdod Heydari

Mickey Liddell

Lindsay Irish-Desarno

Pete Shilaimon

J.C. Davis

Heather Richardson

Scott Hardwick

Geoff Wallace

Jacob Yakob

Bryan David Moss

Kevin Pierce

Michael Glassman

Richard Mettler

Robbie McKeithan

Colt Allen

Scott Kinnebrew

Jeremy Kozura

Steve Urban

Jehan Purcell

Moustafa Nabil

Silvia Torrella

Patrick J. Borowiak

Billy Hendricks

Danny Wils

Paul Poleski

Brandon Burzawa

John Jernigan

James T. Jones

Kevin Conlon

Alaa Negm

D.J. Shea

Matt Doll

Catherine Corkery

Alan Hilburn Jr.

Jeannette Kim

Colin Rogers

Matt Sweeney

Kevin Grieve

Michelle Pare

Tom Jones Jr.

Mariel Folmer

Kurt Hockenberry

Christopher Riggs

Larry Long

Drew Webster

Mohamed El Gohary

Jeffrey Warnhoff

Travis Middaugh

Neil Orchard

William Purcell

Mike Strain Jr.

Kyle Dutton

Luis Tinoco

Tanya Giang

Joshua L. Ellsworth

Mike Xu

Marinela Racheva

G. Peter King

Jill Autry

Eddie Bowlin

Darwin Brandis

Kelsey Ogata

Chelsea Lockhart

Taura C.C. Rivera

Glenn Rivers

Irina Soriano

Christian J. Fletcher

Ben D. Griffith Jr.

Dean Labossiere

Matthew T. Duncan

Michele Waitman

Mike Repeta

Daniel Waller

Sal Vasquez

Radwa Alaa

Brian Ellebracht

Andy Bader

Derek Smith

Lucinda Foy

Jimmie Lee Sessoms

Sarah Kibby

Neil Castles Jr.

Michelle Glahn Livers

Clayton Salberg

Matt Fann

Will Barker

Tony Jenzano

CinemaSerf

There are times when this drama quite effectively illustrates the claustrophobic nature of life aboard the International Space station that is jointly manned by American and Russian scientists. The arrival of "Foster" (Ariana DeBose) brings the tally to three from each nation but very shortly afterwards it's apparent that things on Earth are no-good. What look like volcanic eruptions are occurring all over the place followed by complete radio silence. Well, almost complete. The Americans are given an order that they must assume their counterparts have been given too. What now ensues is a really mediocre sci-fi thriller that tries far too hard to manufacture tension from a misfiring cast and some serious over-scripting. DeBose does enough I suppose, but Chris Messina is his usual wooden self (even if there is a scene that just made me think of that famous line from Brian Blessed). The visual effects do enough but the characterisations are shallow and the plausibility of the entire scenario is dubious. Essentially two warring tribes cohabiting the same space-borne igloo. The denouement doesn't really make a great deal of sense, but I suppose it does ask us to test the relative merits of human nature and decency against the demands of national loyalty - especially when the benefits of either are ambiguous at best. It's not terrible, but I've seen better episodes of "Space 1999".

It's good. Coulda been better, but still good.

<em>'I.S.S.'</em> gave me enough. I do think it could've been paced better and had a bit more intrigue put in there, though what's produced is satisfying. The titular set looks nice and the zero gravity comes across as convincing, while the sound design et al. is all positive.

For me, the cast are very solid. It perhaps could've done with a true star performer as no-one stands far and above their co-stars. Ariana DeBose is more than solid, she is the best of those onscreen; albeit narrowly so. Masha Mashkova and Pilou Asbæk are decent, as also are Chris Messina and Costa Ronin.

Nothing spectacular evidently, though this release is a perfectly watchable sci-fi flick. I'd recommend it.

Brent Marchant

It’s unfortunate that a good premise can’t be saved from poor execution, but such is the case with this undercooked sci-fi thriller. When three Americans and three Russians aboard the International Space Station are stranded there when war breaks out between the two countries on Earth, the previously congenial crewmates turn against one another when the two teams of astronauts each receive orders to take control of the facility at any cost. The question in this, of course, is why? As a scientific research center, what material value would there be in taking charge of a remote space-based facility to the Earth-bound survivors of a war-ravaged planet? While the reasoning behind this is eventually explained, its revelation is delayed, leaving viewers with a drawn-out mystery that doesn’t make much apparent sense, especially when taking control calls for a team of intelligent, convivial, supposedly mature scientists to instantaneously turn into murderous territorial thugs. And, even when the big reveal is finally made, it seems like it’s hardly justification enough for this kind of behavior from a group of individuals who are allegedly more psychologically evolved and have supposedly risen above the infantile geopolitical bickering of their counterparts on terra firma. That’s particularly true in light of the many (and I do mean many) references to the crew’s “enlightened” outlook and assumed solidarity, qualities that are repeatedly browbeaten into viewers in the film’s opening act. The fault here lies with a rather lame narrative and a screenplay that doesn’t do much to overcome that failing. The special effects are also somewhat underwhelming for a sci-fi offering, one in which the filmmakers could have done considerably more to make the picture more visually engaging. Sadly, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, perhaps best known for the superb documentary “Blackfish” (2013), is in over her head with this release, a project that really could have used a more skillful hand in making it the kind of edge-of-your-seat thriller that it deserved to be. Instead, audiences are left with a mediocre sci-fi tale that feels more like something one would find on the SyFy Channel or some other B-grade cable network. You won’t miss much by skipping this one.

I loved this movie and gave it a 8/10 for accomplishing many things for me:

- totally believable that this was filmed in space on the I.S.S.
- mostly believable characters but I'd change some
perfection on the set
- I'll never get the moment out of my mind about first seeing a "volcano" from space
- it ended appropriately, as it's difficult to find a "perfect ending"
- so much introspective that all humans have the capability of doing ruthless things
- Sci-Fi totally believable thriller from start to end. (8/10)

P.S. If you liked this, you'd also probably like High Life (Mia Goth).

Best Movies

I.S.S.

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Ariana DeBose

Chris Messina

John Gallagher Jr.

Masha Mashkova

Costa Ronin

Pilou Asbæk

Box office

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