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Jan 18, 2024 · “I.S.S.,” which takes place in the US/Russia International Space Station, shows us that it may be more terrifying to consider whether in space someone can overhear your whisper. It is an efficient thrill ride, running about 90 minutes, with every moment used as effectively as possible.
Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control...
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- Gabriela Cowperthwaite
- R
- Ariana Debose
Jan 18, 2024 · Revisiting ‘The West Wing’: As Aaron Sorkin’s political fantasy turns 25, our critic says its romance has aged better than its politics.
- Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Jan 19, 2024 · Early in “I.S.S.,” the new International Space Station-set thriller directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, three Russian cosmonauts croon along to “Wind of Change” by the German band ...
- Space station turns pressure cooker in a taut thriller
- I.S.S. Gallery
- What's the best outer-space thriller?
- Verdict
By Erik Adams
Posted: Jan 20, 2024 2:43 am
There’s nothing like a little situational irony to get the old creative juices flowing. Such is the case with I.S.S., a nifty close-quarters thriller that turns a symbol of international cooperation – the space station of its title – into a battlefield in the wake of nuclear warfare between the United States and Russia back on Earth. First-time screenwriter Nick Shafir and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite find plenty of fruitful opportunities for tension and double-crosses in low-Earth orbit, putting their ensemble in the roles of characters who’ve suddenly and startlingly lost the figurative ground beneath their feet. Shafir’s script is a little too eager to underline its themes, and some janky CGI bumps up against the convincing illusion of actors in free fall, but I.S.S. is brought in for a smooth landing by its pulpy exhilaration and Ariana DeBose’s strong central performance as Dr. Kira Foster, a NASA scientist having a terrible first week on the job.
It’s a scenario that could only be born of a screenplay: As the world burns in chilling oranges and reds below them, U.S. commander Gordon Barrett (Chris Messina) and his Russian counterpart, Nicholai Pulov (Costa Ronin), are given near-simultaneous, top-secret orders to commandeer the International Space Station in the name of their country. This raises a lot of big questions about to what and whom the astronauts and cosmonauts owe their loyalties and duty, but those are largely background concerns in the pressure cooker Cowperthwaite devises from cramped sets and emotional close-ups. The Alien parallels neither begin nor end with a chummy scene of the crew shooting the shit around the mess-hall table – in I.S.S., everyone on board could match Ash’s description of the xenomorph: “a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.”
That premise provides a baseline of suspense to work from; Foster’s nuts-and-bolts introduction to the station and its Russo-American status quo are nonetheless shot through with the knowledge that continent-decimating fireworks will go off at any second. Jangled nerves are the order of the day from the opening, rumbling shots of Foster’s flight to the I.S.S. alongside squirrelly military vet Christian Campbell (John Gallagher Jr.). Cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews’ framing only gets slightly less claustrophobic from there, but the camera remains agitated, bobbing up and down in an occasionally bothersome simulation of weightlessness.
The characters and the audience have been denied the comfortable, grounding forces of gravity, which would be more impressive if I.S.S. weren’t so keen to point it out for us. The floating, panicking CG mice at the center of Foster’s research bear the brunt of this blunt-force metaphor, which doubles as a mirror of the space explorers’ sardines-in-a-tin-can predicament. (See also: Recurring transmissions from CCTV cameras that remind us that the space station, like the mice aboard it, is always being monitored.) Comments about seeing the world without borders, a flirty glance from Russian to American (and vice versa) – these are glaring signals of where I.S.S. intends to go.
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Sunshine
Gravity
Moon
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For a movie that piles on complication after complication, it’s almost too air-tight: No remark can be considered off-hand, and no arguably apocryphal Buzz Lightyear quotation goes without meaningful, third-act callback. Foster might not be able to trust any of her new coworkers, but you can trust that they’re not mentioning the relative strength of a keychain lanyard just to endorse the quality souvenirs on offer at the Baikonur Cosmodrome gift shop.
Spinning a worst-case-scenario what-if into a modest sci-fi nail-biter, I.S.S. wrings ample thrills out of three astronauts, three cosmonauts, and their semi-reluctant struggle over control of the International Space Station amid a nuclear war on Earth. It’s overly plotted and obvious in its foreshadowing – maybe this isn’t the optimal time for a s...
Jun 14, 2023 · Ariana DeBose and Chris Messina star in the thriller 'I.S.S.,' about warring astronauts on the International Space Station.
I.S.S. is a tepid sci-fi thriller that has a chilling set-up and strong performances, but its lack of urgency and tendency to become sillier and sillier by the act make it less entertaining than...
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