SXSW Review: PROSPECT: A Slow-Burning, Atmospheric Hard Sci-Fi

I was sad to have missed Prospect at SXSW so far – as a huge science fiction buff I’d sought it out beforehand as it’s one of the few sci-fis that they’re screening this year. Alas, due to the film often playing late and me being tired, or it conflicting with other films I wanted to see, I didn’t get to see it until SXSW gave it an extra Buzz screening on Thursday.

Based on the short film by the same name, Prospect tells the story of a father (Jay Duplass) and his teenaged daughter (Sophie Thatcher) who descend to a moon where they intend to mine a pearl-like resource that, if they sell it, will make them rich. However, as they descend their ship malfunctions and they become stranded on the moon. Things go awry when they meet two rovers on their path, and the girl, Cee, has to make up her mind as to what she is going to do to secure her safety.

Atmospheric Science Fiction

Prospect is a slow-burning science fiction. In certain ways, it feels like you’re reading a novel, if it weren’t for the gorgeous visuals – the cinematography is outstanding, the frequent wide scoping shots of the forest with toxic dust glittering in the air both stunning and ominous. What little CGI there is successfully convinces us of our characters being somewhere out in space.

There is very little that we get to know about this future these people are moving in, but subtle world building hints are dropped here and there. Sci-fi often overexplains its world with exposure-heavy dialogue, not trusting its audience to fill in the gaps, so this was refreshing. I’d definitely be keen to learn more about this world – in ways it reminded me of Mad Max Fury Road, where a culture is established without hitting you over the head with it. For instance, while we see little of the people who live on the moon and their lives, we can glean enough that it’s a hard life. It’s fascinatingly subtle, and it befits the tone of the overall story.

Like An Ellen Ripley Origin Story

The performances are spot-on – particularly the young Cee (Sophie Thatcher) is riveting, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll see a lot more of her in the next few years. A particularly gruesome scene involving a saw-scalpel where she remains completely calm (which Pedro Pascal‘s Ezra points out, thankfully). The character of Cee is wonderfully written – while it did bother me that she was so quick to move on after an important moment early on in the film (huge spoiler so I’m not saying), she is quick on her feet and isn’t dependent on anyone but herself. She’s intelligent and unafraid to defend herself. She’s like a young Ellen Ripley, in a lot of ways, and honestly, I don’t have a hard time imagining this is what Ellen Ripley’s origin story is like.

Jay Duplass is less convincing – there isn’t much for the role of Damon, the father, for him to disappear in. Pedro Pascal, however, delivers an excellently nuanced portrayal of Ezra. He is unpredictable and up until the end I wasn’t sure about his motives. He and Cee, while an unlikely duo considering their circumstances, have great chemistry, and play off of each other well.

The music here is befittingly dark, and indicates perfectly when you need to start paying attention during the film’s languid pace. Great attention was paid to costuming. Each faction has its own look, and since the costumes are among the few things that tell you anything about this world, it successfully conveys the grittiness of this future; this is not a glossy white and chrome type of future, instead, costumes, as well as the space ships, look old, dingy and used.

This May Be A Moon, But This Is Not Moon

Prospect to Duncan Jones‘ Moon, but I don’t think that’s accurate at all. The only similarity is that it takes place on a moon, and it’s a sci-fi debut, which is oversimplifying things. Instead, I would say the creators of this film found their inspiration in films like 2001: A Space Oddysey, the Mad Max franchise, Star Wars (particularly Return of the Jedi), the Alien films, perhaps even from a more recent hard sci-fi like Europa Report. As for the debut part – I do agree that it’s equally impressive as Jones’ Moon.

My only gripe with the film was the sound mixing – for such a dialogue heavy film, it was annoyingly hard to understand. While realistic, the conversation is quite distorted since it largely takes place through helmets and grainy radio signals. I’m looking forward to watching the film again, but with subtitles so that I can follow more of what they’re saying.

Prospect: Conclusion

All in all, Prospect is a great sci-fi film. Quite different from the big budget, blockbuster action films that we associate with science fiction nowadays, it’s instead a slow-burning, languid study of people who end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, somewhere in outer space. The film doesn’t seem to have any deeper, underlying messages, other than perhaps that teenaged girls can be tough, too, which is a message I can always get behind.

But it doesn’t necessarily need a message to be successful – this is an enjoyable film that will be even more enjoyable on repeat viewings, when you can decipher the subtleties and uncover more of the surrounding world. I don’t know if the filmmakers plan on telling more stories from within this world they have crafted, but if they did, I’d be queuing up early.

Are you looking forward to seeing Prospect? 

Prospect screened several times during the SXSW Conferences and Festival 2018. No further release dates are known at this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKuZXNFaX1I