Voyagers

Starring: Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, Chante Adams, Quintessa Swindell, Archie Madekwe, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Viveik Kalra, Madison Hu
Directed by: Neil Burger
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young crew of astronauts on a one-way journey begins to see their society break down, threatening their lives and the mission.

Review:

Tim: Voyagers got really bad reviews from critics and didn't really make any kind of impact on audiences. I think critics were a bit unfair with the film. Now, yes, I admit it's flawed and I wouldn't call it a good film. It's not. But, it's a decent experience for sure. There's quite a few things to like about the movie and while it ultimately fails to live up to expectations, it's not as bad as some would have you believe. The story is basically "Lord of the Flies" in space, so you know going in this won't be a pleasant viewing experience. It wasn't. Neil Burger's film is quite good at aggravating audiences, spending a good deal of time on characters you absolutely hate. It's a flawed film, but it does make you feel something.

The movie does a fairly good job of setting the stage for the story. Our planet is in a dire state and the solution for humanity's future is to send a crew of quite young astronauts on a one-way voyage. They won't make it themselves- it'll be their grandchildren who arrive at humanity's new home. This is actually a fascinating premise. What would it be like to train your entire life for a mission that you know you'll never see completed? That victory won't even belong to your children, but your grandchildren. It's a really interesting premise and you start to get a sense of the claustrophobia that could take place on one spaceship that you'll spend your entire life on. The movie throws some interesting details about how these children were raised (and controlled) to help them with the more maddening aspects of the trip. I did find the whole premise quite interesting, though.

The movie does a nice job of explaining how things start to go awry. It starts innocuously enough, but slowly spirals out as the astronaut's society breaks down. Rules are no longer followed and breaking them is flaunted. Chaos, anarchy threaten around every turn. Murder starts to become more commonplace. This is depicted in some good and some less effective ways, but the overall approach works more often than it doesn't. This isn't always easy to watch- many of the characters, their actions, their reactions are aggravating to watch. I wanted to scream at characters continually throughout the film. That's part of the story, but it's definitely a grating experience. I'd understand why some viewers would quickly lose patience with how Burger tells this story.

I thought the cast gave good performances. Colin Farrell is really good in a supporting role. This film isn't about him, but he does help the story along. His performance matters and it stays with you. I enjoyed his character and the subtle things Farrell did to make him memorable. The film definitely needed someone like him to elevate this film. I'm a big Tye Sheridan fan, too. I don't know if his performance was excellent, but it was solid. He's continuing to build an effective career and I enjoyed him in what's really the lead performance. His character drove me crazy, but his acting worked. I was surprised that I enjoyed Lily-Rose Depp's performance. I don't believe I've seen her in anything before. She's still early in her career and it felt like Berger wisely limited what she does. Her performance is restrained purposely. I thought she gave a fairly strong performance, though. Fionn Whitehead was the character you just absolutely hate. Whitehead's performance was truly effective, in that he made you hate him nearly without bounds. I wanted to physically harm him, that's how effective his performance was. The character is terrible and Whitehead does a nice job bringing him to life. I thought Chante Adams was solid in her supporting role. She's never good, but her performance didn't detract from the film. I hated Adams in A Journal for Jordan, so the fact that her performance was mostly unremarkable felt like a win. I was really impressed with Quintessa Swindell- she was really good in Black Adam and I thought she was strong her. Like that movie, this one's script doesn't do her any favors. She's unnecessarily limited by what she can do. She shines on screen, though, and desperately needed more to do. I wish she had Adams' role. Anything to get her more screen time. It was fun seeing Isaac Hempstead Wright here (I always love seeing Game of Thrones alumni) but he had a fairly limited role. Still, as a whole, the cast featured a lot of up-and-comers and it was fun to see them all here today.

Burger's film does ratchet up the thrills and intensity as the film progresses. You will just as often groan about character decisions as hold your breath, but the film does take you on a journey, undoubtedly. The movie might drag in a few places, but I was mostly compelled to keep watching. Burger's film could have done more, but I still found Voyagers to be a fairly decent movie. This isn't a trip I would want to take again, but I think people were overly critical of it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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