ABC Film Challenge – Sci-Fi – # – 3022 (2019)
Director: John Suits
Writer: Ryan Binaco (Screenplay)
Starring: Omar Epps, Kate Walsh, Angus Macfadyen, Jorja Fox, Miranda Cosgrove, Enver Gjokaj, Haaz Sleiman
Plot: A group of astronauts living in the haunting emptiness of deep space awake to find earth has suffered an extinction level event.
Tagline – Mankind’s last hope
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: 3022 starts as we meet a four-person crew. Captain John Laine (Epps), Jackie Miller (Walsh), Richard Valin (Macfadyen) and Lisa Brown (Cosgrove). Who are on a ten-year mission on a refuelling station of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Halfway through their mission, an unexpected extinction level event hits Earth. Leaving the four alone in space, with no one to communicate with. Questioning their own existence for the future, knowing nobody is waiting for them.
Thoughts on 3022
Characters & Performances
Captain John Laine is running the mission, he keeps the crew together, but before the event. He is one of the people that starts to lose the sense of reality, with his nightmares taking over the safety of the crew. It is left to see whether he can cope with the changes to whether the mission continues. After the event, he must look to solving the problem for his crew, showing his leadership skills. Omar Epps is good in this leading role, showing us just how the isolation of space can damage somebody.
Jackie Miller is the second in command, she becomes John’s partner on the mission. Mostly because of the isolation they have been left to feel. She does become concerned with his mindset change and wants what is best for him. The event leaves her more rocked that John, knowing who was left on Earth waiting for her. Kate Walsh is great here, showing the strength through the tragic events.
When we get into the supporting roles, we do seem to lose something, as some are just their to fill other roles on the mission. Not offering the great science behind what happened, while others are survivors who could help find freedom.
Story
The story here follows a space crew on a 10-year mission, one that will test their own mentality. Until an extinction level event leaves them believing they might well be the last humans alive. This is a story that will ask the bigger questions, it isn’t one that will play into the sci-fi world or events.
This is a big plus for the film, as we are left to wonder what would happen if this did happen to us, being one of the last remaining humans alive. We do however fall into the same old issues of desperation to survive, avoiding the bigger deeper conversation involved.
Themes – 3022 is a sci-fi film that will use the lone space station as the setting, it keeps us seeing how confined the crew is, with them knowing how long they should be there. We don’t need to dive into the special effects as often as many sci-fi space based movies would, which again, shows how this film looked at the story over explosions.
3022 is a thinking sci-fi film that tries to bring us a conversation starter, only to not commit all the way with that premise.