I.S.S. is a 2024 science fiction thriller film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and written by Nick Shafir. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12th, 2023.
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 of the station by any means necessary.
The cast includes Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Maria Mashkova, Costa Ronin, and Pilou Asbæk.
I.S.S. made its debut in theaters January 19th, courtesy of Bleecker Street.
I’m not a huge sci-fi guy as far as the genre in general, so going into I.S.S. I had some fairly moderate expectations. When I first watched the trailer I had a feeling it would be a fairly linear film in terms of where the events take place and that was definitely the case. From my standpoint, that is both good and bad, depending on what style of film you prefer in terms of the overall experience. For me, I prefer a bit more action, or just more actual story to unfold as opposed to relying on built up tension between characters, and a larger event that you really don’t feel connected to. This style of storytelling requires significant investment from viewers otherwise they leave the theater feeling uninspired and honestly a little bit bored. I never felt a real connection to any of the characters which took away from the overall impact of the film.
With I.S.S. I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more focus on character development as far as viewers having the opportunity to get invested in the characters. The film opens with two of the characters on the rocket heading to the international space station, so you never really have a chance to get a feel for who these people were prior to the events unfolding. The film does offer up a bit of backstory as the plot unfolds but we don’t get any flashbacks or anything of that nature. I understand why they took this approach because it did seem intentional in terms of the overall claustrophobic feel of the film, but I personally would’ve preferred having the opportunity to care a little bit more about the characters. I don’t think I.S.S. was ever boring which is a positive of course, but the “keeping things moving” approach of the screenplay took away from the overall impact of the film.
From a technical standpoint I.S.S. is as bare bones as a film can be. Aside from a few exterior shots the film takes place primarily inside the space station, and don’t get me wrong it does look authentic and they did a really nice job with the set design, but as far as powerful shots or great cinematography the film really doesn’t have much to offer. It didn’t take long for me to get bored of seeing the same things over and over, which is how I imagine people aboard the space station begin to feel. I will say that I was bought in enough to appreciate all of the cool parts about adapting to life aboard the space station, like securing yourself to the wall to sleep, or opening a beverage and watching the contents slowly rise out of the bottle.
I thought the cast was solid although I don’t think anyone stood out in terms of a really spectacular performance. As I talked about the tension between the characters is the bread and butter of the film, and for the most part everyone is believable and seem bought into their characters. With that being said, the behaviors of the characters felt a bit predictable which for me really took away from the overall impact of a film like this. Chris Messina stood out to me the most which may simply be because of the fact that he is an actor that I really like, but I was impressed by Ariana DeBose in her role. I liked where things were going with John Gallagher Jr.’s character but that story arch seemed to run out of steam before it really got going which is a shame.
A linear thriller that relies heavily on effectively building tension to keep viewers engaged, I.S.S. is a mostly enjoyable film that lacks emphasis on character development. I commend the film for sticking with its identity for better or for worse, I just feel like it could have been much better with a few tweaks to the screenplay or even perhaps adding 20-minutes or so of character backstory.
TED TAKES RATING - 6.1/10
I.S.S. is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.