I.S.S.

January 15th, 2024

MOVIE: I.S.S.

STARRING: ARIANA DEBOSE, CHRIS MESSINA, JOHN GALLAGHER JR., PILOU ASBÆK

DIRECTED BY: GABRIELA COWPERTHWAITE

AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)

You can consider me an easy target for movies about outer space disasters. The Martian, Gravity, and Ad Astra thrilled me with stories about humans handling an emergency among the stars. I.S.S. (short for International Space Station) is a potboiler while piggybacking off recent disagreements between Russia and the U.S. It involves six astronauts- 3 Americans and 3 Russians- put at odds against one another in a struggle to gain control of the station. For the first half, I.S.S. is mildly intriguing, and then spins out of orbit, hitting a point where it isn’t sure how to resolve the issues, and becoming a promising premise that fails to land.

The premise is simple, the International Space Station has been a major source of space exploration, both for the Russian and U.S. governments. The U.S. is led by Captain Gordon Barrett (Chris Messina) and now two new astronauts are arriving- Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) and Christian Campbell (John Gallagher Jr.), both with projects to study cancer cells in mice while aboard the station. The Russian side is Weronika (Masha Mashkova), Captain Pulov (Costa Ronin), and second-in-command Alexey Pulov (Pilou Asbæk). With the newcomers on the station, they must all get reacquainted, living in tight quarters and becoming family in their hub in the sky.

Written by Nick Shafir, the character that is the central focus is Kira, quietly observing the relationships on board, while having Weronika teach her to speak Russian. Just as things settle down, explosions start erupting from Earth, a war between the two sides begins, and soon both sets of astronauts receive orders to take the station by all means necessary. This of course creates massive tensions within the tight quarters. Followed by scheming between the two sides, with some willing to take a life, and others wondering how they will get out.

From a visual standpoint, I.S.S. is relatively fine, as the anti-gravity look adds to the setting and establishes the character’s surroundings. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite understands the setup, letting the characters become close, but fails to follow through. The irritating part is that I.S.S. feels like an incomplete film. The final act is awkwardly abrupt, while characters confront one another without full details, and fail to give the viewer an understanding of what is at stake. One could decipher what is happening on earth or come up with a story for why the two countries would be at war, but I.S.S. is in too much of a hurry to explain anything. The first act feels promising but the final result is too standard to stick out in an already crowded sub-genre.

What Cowperthwaite is going for is the tension of submarine dramas such as K-19: The Widowmaker, Hunt for Red October, and Crimson Tide, only this time, in space. Instead what we get lacks the thrills or hard-nosed acting that can make a movie in tight spaces soar. I.S.S. might be better viewing on a plane or can be forgiven for its flaws, but the reality is it’s not memorable enough to recommend. It’s best to let it float away into outer space.

I.S.S. IS PLAYING IN THEATERS THIS FRIDAY JANUARY 19TH, 2024.

2 STARS

Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com