What is known as the International Space Station was put up in space following the end of the Cold War to signify that space explorers and scientists from multiple countries will have a place to work together to make important scientific breakthroughs and monitor Earth from some three hundred miles above the ground. But what if, by some ghastly accident or deliberate intent, a war between the two superpowers on the ground actually did occur, and those on the station were forced to do something they never thought would be necessary? This is the premise of the 2024 sci-fi drama I. S. S.
Ariana DeBose, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2021 for the role of Anita in director Steven Spielberg's re-imagining of WEST SIDE STORY, Chris Messina and John Gallagher Jr. Portray a three-person American team of astronauts who have taken over for their predecessors aboard the International Space Station. After a slightly shaky start, they become very familiar with their Russian counterparts (Masha Mashkova; Costa Ronin; Pilou Asbaek) and enjoy some friendly bantering. But then everything takes a turn towards the sinister, when DeBose, looking out a window of I. S. S. And down at Earth, sees flashes on the ground that don't look like lightning, but something far worse. As it turns out, though it is never explained what caused it, both superpowers are in a state of war, and that war appears to be spiraling towards the nuclear. And while it is bad enough that both crews effectively find themselves marooned in a confined place, with the only way to get home being a Soyuz emergency rescue craft, and the very real possibility that there won't be a world to return to, the dangers get magnified when both crews are informed separately by their individual governments that their job is to no longer be scientists, but to capture and take possession of I. S. S. By any means necessary.
In many ways, I. S. S. Is a combination of films like GRAVITY and MAROONED, with elements that are germane to the psychological thriller and Cold War genres. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, whose credits include 2013's BLACKFISH and 2017's MEGAN LEAVEY, does a very good job of showing that, as big as the International Space Station is from the vacuum of space, the actual living and working quarters of the station are quite cramped and claustrophobic. The scenario laid out by Nick Shafir in his screenplay does have its plausibility holes (given that it's unlikely either the U. S. or Russia would have the time of day to even care what is happening some three hundred miles above them in low Earth orbit if they are on the verge of irradiating one another), and some of the dialogue between the two crews, jumping back between English and Russian, is a bit confusing at times (unlike what was seen with the U. S./Russian cooperation scenario in 1984's "2010"). Even so, however, the visuals of I. S. S. And the depiction of an Earth about to tip over into nuclear war are done rather well, especially given that, with a $20 million budget, Cowperthwaite only had a quarter of the budget that director Alfonso Cuaron had for GRAVITY.
There isn't too much question that DeBose is the most prominent member of the cast, given what she had managed to achieve with Spielberg two years before. She also has roughly the same unenviable task that Sandra Bullock had in GRAVITY, carrying much of the film's weight on her shoulders, even with five other actors involved; and while she is able to convey the fear of being stuck in confined quarters while the world below is in the process of being atomized, she is equally able to remain stoic throughout the ordeal. Some of the scenes of violence that happen are a bit more than what people might want, but they aren't quite grisly; and the film's final moments, full as they are of ambiguity and uncertainty, have the feel inherent in Hitchcock's THE BIRDS and Spielberg's 1971 suspense classic DUEL.
Thus, while I do have issues with the story's plausibility factor, I am nevertheless willing to give this an '8' rating.
Ariana DeBose, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2021 for the role of Anita in director Steven Spielberg's re-imagining of WEST SIDE STORY, Chris Messina and John Gallagher Jr. Portray a three-person American team of astronauts who have taken over for their predecessors aboard the International Space Station. After a slightly shaky start, they become very familiar with their Russian counterparts (Masha Mashkova; Costa Ronin; Pilou Asbaek) and enjoy some friendly bantering. But then everything takes a turn towards the sinister, when DeBose, looking out a window of I. S. S. And down at Earth, sees flashes on the ground that don't look like lightning, but something far worse. As it turns out, though it is never explained what caused it, both superpowers are in a state of war, and that war appears to be spiraling towards the nuclear. And while it is bad enough that both crews effectively find themselves marooned in a confined place, with the only way to get home being a Soyuz emergency rescue craft, and the very real possibility that there won't be a world to return to, the dangers get magnified when both crews are informed separately by their individual governments that their job is to no longer be scientists, but to capture and take possession of I. S. S. By any means necessary.
In many ways, I. S. S. Is a combination of films like GRAVITY and MAROONED, with elements that are germane to the psychological thriller and Cold War genres. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, whose credits include 2013's BLACKFISH and 2017's MEGAN LEAVEY, does a very good job of showing that, as big as the International Space Station is from the vacuum of space, the actual living and working quarters of the station are quite cramped and claustrophobic. The scenario laid out by Nick Shafir in his screenplay does have its plausibility holes (given that it's unlikely either the U. S. or Russia would have the time of day to even care what is happening some three hundred miles above them in low Earth orbit if they are on the verge of irradiating one another), and some of the dialogue between the two crews, jumping back between English and Russian, is a bit confusing at times (unlike what was seen with the U. S./Russian cooperation scenario in 1984's "2010"). Even so, however, the visuals of I. S. S. And the depiction of an Earth about to tip over into nuclear war are done rather well, especially given that, with a $20 million budget, Cowperthwaite only had a quarter of the budget that director Alfonso Cuaron had for GRAVITY.
There isn't too much question that DeBose is the most prominent member of the cast, given what she had managed to achieve with Spielberg two years before. She also has roughly the same unenviable task that Sandra Bullock had in GRAVITY, carrying much of the film's weight on her shoulders, even with five other actors involved; and while she is able to convey the fear of being stuck in confined quarters while the world below is in the process of being atomized, she is equally able to remain stoic throughout the ordeal. Some of the scenes of violence that happen are a bit more than what people might want, but they aren't quite grisly; and the film's final moments, full as they are of ambiguity and uncertainty, have the feel inherent in Hitchcock's THE BIRDS and Spielberg's 1971 suspense classic DUEL.
Thus, while I do have issues with the story's plausibility factor, I am nevertheless willing to give this an '8' rating.