LIFE Trailer

The aliens are back to kill us in Life, continuing the steady stream of movies capitalizing on our fear of predation and claustrophobia.

If Life strikes you as generic, perhaps the writing duo behind it will assuage your fears. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have already brought us the genre twisters Zombieland and Deadpool. Playing things straight simply isn’t their modus operandi, so while the trailer plays like many previous sci-fi thrillers, you should probably expect some pizazz in the final product. It does reunite them with Ryan Reynolds, after all, and you can see that his character shares the wisecracking trait of their beloved Deadpool.

Close observation reveals hints that the characters might undergo more drastic changes than expected, as well. Note that Jake Gyllenhaal’s John loudly argues for opening the door to help the first supposed victim, while by the end silently closes the door on another.

In fact, the biggest red flag for this movie is not the setup but director Daniel Espinosa, whose last two films are the underwhelming Safe House (also starring Reynolds) and Child 44. This is his first journey into space, however, so maybe the atmosphere (or lack thereof) will provide the spark he’s been missing.

Money has clearly been thrown at this film, so at the very least it should offer some good space tumbling thrills. If the rest of the film can come together around its set pieces, then it could become an early summer hit.

Life is directed by Daniel Espinosa and stars Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Rebecca Ferguson. It will be released in the U.K. on May 12th, 2017 and in the U.S. on May 26th, 2017. For international release dates, click here.

Do you think Life will have a twist on its familiar genre? Let us know in the comments!