I.S.S.: In Space, No One Can Hear You Scheme
By Chris Knight
Rating: C-minus
A while back, Tom Cruise announced he was headed to the International Space Station courtesy of SpaceX to make a film there.
He has yet to make good on that promise and, in the meantime, the Russians beat him to it, arriving in 2021 to shoot The Challenge, starring Yuliya Peresild and whatever Russians happened to be up there at the time. It was released last year but, thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, only in “friendly” countries such as Belarus, Iran and China.
More accessible and definitely more down-to-Earth is I.S.S., the latest from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish, Our Friend). Though shot here on Earth - North Carolina to be precise - it is set entirely aboard the space station that has been orbiting our planet for more than 25 years now.
Ariana DeBose (an Oscar winner for her role in 2021’s West Side Story) stars as Dr. Kira Foster, newest member of the I.S.S. crew, who arrives in the opening scene aboard the rattling, reliable space taxi that is the Soyuz spacecraft. She’s one of six astronauts aboard, along with two other Americans (Chris Messina and John Gallagher Jr.) and a trio of Russians played by Masha Mashkova, Pilou Asbæk, and Costa Ronin.
For a little while, it’s smooth sailing, as Kira sets up her weightless-mouse experiments and gets a tour of the station, including her personal sleeping pod and the Cupola, a seven-window module offering the solar system’s best view of Earth. But as she looks down at the planet, she suddenly sees the roseate blooms of nuclear explosions below.
War has broken out, and a furtive message from Houston tells the Americans to take control of the station (pause for dramatic effect) by any means necessary. It’s assumed the Russians have received similar orders, and so everyone starts side-eyeing their orbital comrades while trying to remain calm.
But the unanswered question from first-time writer Nick Shafir: Why? I.S.S. is set more or less in the present day, and the ageing station is hardly a strategic asset, military or otherwise. In the real world, Russia last year reluctantly confirmed its participation in staffing and running the station through 2028, with the rest of its international partners (including Canada) onboard until 2030. Then or soon after, I.S.S. will fall into the sea.
But if we beg that question, it leaves another: How? Kira tries to figure that out herself while also working to unravel the personalities and motivations of her five colleagues, including the twitchy Christian (Gallagher), the steely Gordon (Messina) and the more enigmatic Russians, who have a habit of switching languages when they don’t want the Americans to follow every word.
Nika (Mashkova) seems the most sympathetic of the bunch and is also the only other woman on board, but maybe she’s using that familiarity to hide something else?
I wish I was more invested in the answers, but I.S.S. doesn’t do enough to set up its characters or the emotional axons that connect them, aside from a convenient romance and a minor cultural misunderstanding or two. Other than Kira herself, functioning at the viewer’s stand-in, we never get a sense of what makes astronauts tick. I daresay a less intrusive event than the literal end of the world might have kept the stakes more believable and manageable, while still providing dramatic thrust.
And I hate to bring this up because the filmmakers are clearly very proud of their special effects, but the recreation of micro-gravity is middling at best. Closeups are fine, but whenever someone floats away in a full-body shot, you can imagine the harness that was meticulously erased in post-production. Meanwhile, the shot of one character making a meal with a mustard bottle sitting in front of him, clearly weighed down by Earth’s pull, just made me angry. And hungry.
On the plus side, production design is superb, and the sets look like they were built from NASA blueprints. I’ve spent some virtual time in the I.S.S. (thank you IMAX and VR headsets) and it does look a treat. But that’s still not enough to tether this problematic product.
This might also be the time to mention For All Mankind, an alternate-history space-travel show that just wrapped its fourth season on Apple TV+. With sterling effects and believable, three-dimensional characters, it’s a worthy small-screen watch. Its season finale has left this sci-fi aficionado with a serious case of space withdrawal. Alas, I.S.S. did nothing to fill that vacuum.
I.S.S. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Starring Ariana Debose, Chris Messina, and Masha Mashkova. Opens in theatres on Jan. 19.