Great Thrillers Set In Space
Plus, read our reviews for the new space horror-thriller 'Alien: Romulus'
Outer space is an amazing setting for a thriller because it’s a foreign place to more than 99.9% of the population. We get to watch a gripping movie play out in what we imagine as the cold, harsh, and unforgiving vacuum of space, making it even more harrowing. In response to last weekend’s release of Alien: Romulus (see our reviews below!), your Friday recommendations include a pair of awesome space thrillers, in addition to the several we have already written about in the past. Enjoy these recs and make sure you are staying up-to-date on the podcast. New episode out every week!
Billy recommends…
Last and First Men
In figuring out what I wanted to write about I realized that the genre of space thriller is a much thinner genre than I realized. The ones that have hit like the Alien franchise have taken over so much of that space it is hard to break out with something original. This title stuck out and it only “stars” Tilda Swinton in a narration role. I look up at who the director is and it is the iconic composer Johann Johannsson who worked brilliantly with Denis Villeneuve.
Johannsson tragically passed away in 2018 and this movie came out in 2020. He had finished filming the movie, but the final edit was never finished. It is based on the 1930 science fiction novel of the same name. Swinton narrates using excerpts from the novel and the ominous music plays over haunting images of memorial sculptures erected in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
I am not entirely sure what I am supposed to take away from this movie, but the story around the filming and the finish of this movie is incredibly emotional. A tragic relic of someone that could have gone down as an all-time great. And inspiring because of the work that was done (led by Berlin composer Yair Elazar Glotman) to get this released in a mold that is incredibly honoring to his legacy.
Streaming on Shudder and Kanopy
Drew recommends…
Gravity
If the iconic tagline of 1979’s Alien – “In space, no one can hear you scream” – is the thesis of that horror-thriller space slasher, 2013’s Gravity states its own thesis with a title card at the beginning: “Life in space is impossible.” Writer-director Alfonso Cuaron’s gripping and astonishing survival thriller uses the magic of cinema to tell the story of one astronaut that must navigate the indifference and sheer terror of outer space to get her feet back on solid ground.
Gravity remains one of the most extraordinary experiences I’ve had at a movie theater. I remember stumbling out of a matinee showing in October 2013, in disbelief at a 91-minute movie that had rewired what I had thought possible to put up on screen. It was both a dazzling technical accomplishment and a heart-pounding viewing experience. Cuaron’s cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, is one of the best ever at his craft, and his staging of the breathtaking one-take scenes is something to behold. Additionally, Cuaron recognizes the power of his score and sound (including when to drop it out) to combine the visual wonder with the pulse-raising audio.
Gravity’s story is lean and to-the-point, as the movie opens with a harrowing long take that’s almost like a little movie in and of itself. Sandra Bullock plays astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone, whose space shuttle gets wrecked by debris. Dr. Stone and her commander Lieutenant Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) then have to find a way back to safety in the cold emptiness of space. Even in an hour-and-a-half space thriller, Gravity takes the time and gives us a reason to care about Dr. Stone’s past and current predicament. It’s the character moments and relationship between the two (and the star power of Bullock and Clooney) that keep us emotionally invested throughout.
Gravity was a massive box office success (to the tune of $723 million worldwide) and lauded by the Academy, taking home seven Oscars. It was an undeniable cinematic accomplishment inside a riveting space thriller, something very hard to do unless you’re someone as gifted as Alfonso Cuaron. Ultimately, this story weaponizes the horror of space to explore both human fragility and resilience in the face of impossible odds.
Available for digital rental
From the DYLA Archive
Review: Alien: Romulus
Billy: The variance of response to early reviews had me expecting The Last Jedi of the Alien franchise. Something that will make me feel passionate one way or the other. But I did not swing drastically pro- or anti-Romulus. A young cast that is carried completely by the two leads Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. Spaeny is proving she is as steady as it comes and plays a nervous, naive teenager that has to save the day convincingly. And thankfully she doesn’t do a Ripley impression, which I appreciated. Jonsson might be the new memorable android in the Alien franchise. My main detraction is this movie never gets gnarly enough for the gnarliness that was advertised. It felt like the studio told director Fede Alvarez he could bring in his gnarly ideas as long as he pushes the franchise forward in familiar ways. There are moments of pure terror, but that feeling was not sustained throughout the run time.
3 / 5 Apples
Drew: I like that Romulus went with a younger cast (Spaeny and Jonsson are terrific in this, bright futures for them both) and Fede Álvarez seems to be the right kind of sicko to direct an Alien movie. But, as crazy and technically impressive as a couple of these set pieces are, Romulus just feels overly familiar, containing a couple of truly awful franchise-minded decisions. The standalone parts of space horror filmmaking are decent fun, but the rest had me missing the ambitious grandeur of Prometheus and Covenant.
2.5 / 5 Apples
DYLA Podcast
It was only a matter of time before we did this one: it’s a Good Will Hunting watch-along! In honor of the movie that inspired the name of this newsletter, we pressed play on the 90s classic and chatted about Damon, Affleck, Robin Williams, Boston movies, and much more. Watch the movie while you listen or just tune in for the discussion of the foundational Do You Like Apples movie.
Apple Podcasts:
Spotify: