Voyagers

Director Neil Burger set the bar so high after Limitless that he will probably never surpass it. Although Voyagers is not too ambitious, it is definitely a cool and enjoyable bit one-off, worth more attention than this year's sci-fi offerings from Netflix. The film takes place in the near future on a spaceship with a thirty-member crew of young people searching for a new home. As it usually happens, their relationships start to deteriorate early on, with characters changing and dividing into groups. The acting is decent. Tye Sheridan is a likeable protagonist and Lily-Rose Depp is adorable. Colin Farrell is also good in a smaller role. The film is nicely shot and at times it is quite suspenseful. At times, I was hoping it would turn into a nice carnage, but perhaps I wanted too much. It didn't offend me, I enjoyed it, I have no problem with it. Those who have nothing else to watch and love sci-fi will definitely not waste their time with this. 6/10. (30/04/2021)

Interesting concept, worse execution. The story will engage and surprise the viewer, but apart from one plot line it has nothing to offer... Unfortunately, all the characters behave in a template-like manner and sometimes everything is pushed to the extreme, until the viewer doesn't want to believe it. However, the form of the spaceship and its functionality is another level above what is usually the case with other films. It's a good film, which captivates, but has almost no thematic overlap... (09/06/2021)

Judging by the reviews here, on Imdb and RT, I was expecting worse from Voyagers. This is not to say that Neil Burger's film impressed me in any significant way, though. The premise alone certainly had potential, but that was lost in the execution, which could have done more with the characters, the setting of a spaceship with no escape, and the overall building of atmosphere. Voyagers highlights how people can be moved by (un)wanted emotions, and how easily they can be manipulated when a disturbed (wannabe) "alpha-male" who can exploit fear and ignorance takes power. While it lacks that coveted "cosmic confinement and despair" (see Alien, Gravity, or Life) and a rawer handling, toned down to target a younger audience, it is still a solid three-star one-off. PS: The comparison with Lord of the Flies, which I have neither read nor seen (yet), is spot on! (01/08/2021)

I suspect there was a far more interesting and clever script behind this originally than what eventually made it into the movie. That plot about an inter-generation raised solely to preserve the human genome before it reaches a colonizable planet is excellent, and quite timely in this day and age when many young people similarly see their role in preserving humanity in the shadow of climate change. The problem is that the film doesn't develop the most essential information needed for the plot at all. If we're faced with a group of people raised in complete isolation from the rest of the world (so they don't suffer from mourning for earth), and all we see of their upbringing is the performance of abstract tasks, that's not enough to understand the experiences and patterns of behavior they continue to act upon. Without that, we are sadly left with a simple-minded genre tale about how some of us are naturally bred for the gallows, with representative democracy being the solution. Which, given the potential of the subject matter, is a pretty lame outcome. Especially when the physical cinematography and quieter narrative suggest the film had ambitions elsewhere. (29/10/2021)

Burger is good at nice visuals and the premise is interesting, but that isn’t enough. The screenplay is weak and soon slips into a predictable routine. The kids behave like idiots, but not one of them is likeable. The only one to make an impression in acting terms was Colin. + Shame that we didn’t get a look at the surface of the planet. (04/11/2021)