You know how Q is always the hardest letter, well here is the cheat once more, we have Q’orianka Kilcher starring in this film, filling the Q hole for Sci-Fi.
Writer: Scarlett Amaris, Richard Stanely (Screenplay) H.P. Lovecraft (Short Story)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Elliot Knight, Tommy Chong, Brendan Meyer, Julian Hilliard
Plot: A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Truly Out There
Story: Color Out of Space starts as we meet the Gardner family, Nathan (Cage), Theresa (Richardson), Lavinia (Arthur), Benny (Meyer) and Jack (Hilliard) who live on a remote farm away from the world, where they are dealing with the everyday problems of change, with Lavinia missing the busy world, while the family is here to help Theresa with her treatment.
That night a meteorite hits just outside the house of the family, which sees researcher Ward (Knight) checking out what it might be, along with the local authorities. As the next nights occur strange things start happening around the farm, putting the family in danger.
Thoughts on Color Out of Space
Characters – Nathan is the father of the house, he is trying to runt he farm with his alpaca being his animal of choice, he likes to keep family together after the struggles that they have been through, but after the event, he becomes shorter tempered, getting frustrated at his own actions. Theresa is the wife that has been through cancer treatments, she is carrying on her career away from the world, she does seem to be out of the danger, but after the event, even she starts to change. Lavinia is the teenager daughter that is looking at alternative ways to save her mother, she does sense the danger first and tries to help save her siblings, but is also facing the effects of what the incident brings to the farm. She does have a couple of the typical rebellious teenager traits, with the insecurity being what drives her rebellious side. Ward is the scientist doing research for a bigger plan that is due to create a hydro reservoir, making sure there isn’t an environmental impact with this change happening.
Performances – Nicolas Cage in the leading role is great as always, he shows his ability to click his character in a switch to bring us the unprepared character changes through the film. Joely Richardson is great too, doing the same swaps without just copying how Cage does it, bringing her own way to make this unique. Madeleine Arthur as the teenage daughter works well, becoming more of the central figure of the film, showing the teenage traits well, while also being someone who wants to step up. Elliot Knight does well too, he doesn’t do anything wrong, while I would have liked to have seen more of his character.
Story – The story here follows a family that live on a remote farm that experience strange events after an object falls on their property, as time goes by the events become stranger and deadlier leaving them to need to fight to survive. This story is based of a Lovecraft idea which means you know you are going to get something strange. While the story handles everything about the strangeness with ease, it does seem to struggle to balance the science side of the story, which seems like it was meant to be more of the science versus the unexplained story. That aside, we do still get to go through the family drama and struggles, the changes that the family notice about themselves and leave us with conclusion that is fitting for the concept.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror in this film comes from just what is happened to the people, we see how they are being affected by something out of their control and will find themselves trying to understand the sci-fi side of what has been happening to them.
Settings – The film keeps nearly everything at the remote cabin, showing us how isolated the family could be, how the event could build from a small location to become a wider impacted problem.
Special Effects – The effects are marvellous, with the major ones getting used in the second half of the film, they only add to the disturbing side of the film.
Scene of the Movie – Stay with your mother.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough of the science side of the film, considering he is narrating too.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror sci-fi that is way bigger than you would have expected, it will blend other big horror films to give us a truly entertaining experience that you won’t feel again this year.
Overall: True Experience of Cinema.
