Stowaway [Netflix]

pixelburp · 24-03-2021 4:34pm #1

Decent cast, and an interesting - if probably belief-suspending - premise, where someone accidentally winds up on a mission to Mars, with life-support not capable of sustaining four people.

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

Mr E · 24-03-2021 5:11pm

Looks great!

corkonion · 24-03-2021 5:15pm

Mr E wrote: »

Looks great!

It sure does

mikhail · 24-03-2021 6:00pm

Great cast, cracking premise... It's nice to look forward to a movie release again! It's been a while.

Dades · 24-03-2021 6:44pm

Yep, I'm in.

Didn't watch the full trailer in case of spoilers.

Good to see yer man from Lost!

pixelburp · 25-03-2021 6:37pm

Dades wrote: »

Yep, I'm in.

Didn't watch the full trailer in case of spoilers.

Good to see yer man from Lost!

I suspect the strength of this film will lie in the script, and how deftly it adds stakes without passing the Idiot Ball around. Too easy to suddenly make professionals act like morons for the sake of things going Boom.

pixelburp · 22-04-2021 8:47am

This dropped today, for those keeping eye / track.

FortuneChip · 22-04-2021 11:38pm

It's very good if a little simple. It's very bare bones - be warned. And yeah, the very initial premise is a little hard to believe but once you come to terms with that, you'll be grand.

Avoids a lot of the pitfalls that other movies would have gleefully dived into which is refreshing.

pinksoir · 23-04-2021 8:04am

FortuneChip wrote: »

It's very good if a little simple. It's very bare bones - be warned. And yeah, the very initial premise is a little hard to believe but once you come to terms with that, you'll be grand.

Avoids a lot of the pitfalls that other movies would have gleefully dived into which is refreshing.

Agree 100% with this. Some nice character type driven moments along the way too, which are well written.

Still scratching my head over how he even ended up there though...

Tom Mann Centuria · 23-04-2021 8:08am

pinksoir wrote: »

Still scratching my head over how he even ended up there though...

So the film could happen........

McGrath5 · 23-04-2021 3:25pm

Enjoyed it for the most part.

The part when they had to go get the oxygen supplies was well done

pinksoir · 23-04-2021 10:27pm

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

So the film could happen........

Touché.

Fysh · 23-04-2021 10:35pm

I quite enjoyed this - similar to The Martian in overall tone in that the crew are clearly individuals trained and selected for their mission, and the setting is treated with consideration rather than being an incidental backdrop. The performances are good and the central conceit is nicely simple. If I did have a complaint it would be that, at 2 hours, it's probably a bit longer than it needs to be for its very well executed concept, but not so much that I'd be looking at my watch or getting impatient.

As someone else said, the main hurdle in terms of plausibility is the inciting incident - but to be fair, the title of the film sets you up for that and once you accept it, everything else that happens spools out plausibly and with nothing more objectionable than maybe some bad luck around timing.

feelings · 24-04-2021 11:42pm

5/10 at best.

Why did the hatch of the kingfisher fall away as it did, as if it had weight? Shouldn't it be weightless in space?

24-04-2021 11:47pm

Didn't care about the characters at all. can't recommend it.

Sad Professor · 25-04-2021 8:30am

feelings wrote: »

5/10 at best.

Why did the hatch of the kingfisher fall away as it did, as if it had weight? Shouldn't it be weightless in space?

The ship was rotating which created artificial gravity except in the centre.

PhiloCypher · 25-04-2021 11:25am

Fysh wrote: »

I quite enjoyed this - similar to The Martian in overall tone in that the crew are clearly individuals trained and selected for their mission, and the setting is treated with consideration rather than being an incidental backdrop. The performances are good and the central conceit is nicely simple. If I did have a complaint it would be that, at 2 hours, it's probably a bit longer than it needs to be for its very well executed concept, but not so much that I'd be looking at my watch or getting impatient.

As someone else said, the main hurdle in terms of plausibility is the inciting incident - but to be fair, the title of the film sets you up for that and once you accept it, everything else that happens spools out plausibly and with nothing more objectionable than maybe some bad luck around timing.

Yeh they were very vague on the details.

He muttered something about being in the second stage and failing to strap in. Why was he strapping in at all ?

Basq · 25-04-2021 2:06pm

Twas grand.. 2 hours flew by.

Helps that Anna Kendrick is always watchable.

Full_Circle_81 · 25-04-2021 2:31pm

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Yeh they were very vague on the details.
He muttered something about being in the second stage and failing to strap in. Why was he strapping in at all ?

Because the details were so vague, I expected

it to be a ruse and turn into a Dead Calm situation

, but no. Odd that they went along with the explanation so easily.

humberklog · 25-04-2021 5:24pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

The ship was rotating which created artificial gravity except in the centre.

Then the lid should have been attracted to the Kingfisher or simply floated away when pulled apart. There's no falling in space.

Anyway, I also posted in the main thread...how did that big fella fit into the tiny space and secure it shut with screws?

Sad Professor · 25-04-2021 5:42pm

humberklog wrote: »

Then the lid should have been attracted to the Kingfisher or simply floated away when pulled apart. There's no falling in space.

Of course there's falling in space. That's what gravity is. In this case, the centrifugal force created by the spinning would cause the lid to fall away. The same way Kendrick slid down the cable toward the ship on the way back. Whether it falls away in the correct way, I honestly don't know. But it certainly shouldn't have floated away.

It's not a great film. First half in particular was weak but I thought the second half was much better. That it doesn't explain

how the film's title character ended up on the ship

is indeed weird. However, that isn't, as some seem to be suggesting, a plot hole, it's just something that the film choses not to explain. It's the least of the film's problems tbh. It's main issue is that the story and characters aren't compelling.

humberklog · 25-04-2021 5:48pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

Of course there's falling in space. That's what gravity is. In this case, the centrifugal force created by the spinning would cause the lid to fall away. The same way Kendrick slid down the cable toward the ship on the way back. Whether it falls away in the correct way, I honestly don't know. But it certainly shouldn't have floated away.

Well that would mean that the lid was under the pull of the Earth's gravity (nearest planet or the Sun?) and if it was to pull the lid away like it did it would surely pull the spaceship too?

Ah...here...there's was enough faults with the movie without expecting them to that right : ).

pixelburp · 25-04-2021 5:56pm

I thought the film was dead-centre fine. A much better example of the low to mid budget Netflix film that is too often abject trash. Didn't care about the manner in which the Stowaway got onboard; to the rest it was Competency Porn really; no high dramatics, no Idiot Balls passed around. The fault there obviously being the cast didn't have much to work with beyond "these are sober professionals". The finale was definitely anticlimactic, and felt like the thin script finally running out of puff, but the rest was unfussy and economic. A simple scenario played out, perhaps a touch longer than needed.

Sad Professor · 25-04-2021 6:05pm

humberklog wrote: »

Well that would mean that the lid was under the pull of the Earth's gravity (nearest planet or the Sun?) and if it was to pull the lid away like it did it would surely pull the spaceship too?

The lid was pulled by the centrifugal forces created by the spin, which was pulling everything outward away from the axis. Technically I think, yes, it was pulling the ship and the Kingfisher too. Not gravity strictly speaking but it created artificial gravity on their ship and also on the Kingfisher. It was why going out there was so dangerous.

gogo · 25-04-2021 6:06pm

Honestly didn’t enjoy it all, couldn’t wait to get to watch it last night but felt it was a whole lot of meh..
super premise, but the character back ground just didn’t go far enough for me, the stowaway’s own story was great and then that’s the end of that little segment, on to the next... and so on until it was over, I didn’t care about any of the characters at all, not enough to care if they all died or not, extremely anticlimactic at the end also.
It was watchable but it could have been great!

fitz · 25-04-2021 10:53pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

The lid was pulled by the centrifugal forces created by the spin, which was pulling everything outward away from the axis. Technically I think, yes, it was pulling the ship and the Kingfisher too. Not gravity strictly speaking but it created artificial gravity on their ship and also on the Kingfisher. It was why going out there was so dangerous.

The door coming away from the kingfisher set it spinning, but it didn't fall away...it's that the Kingfisher was moving away from it at speed. All a matter of perspective.

Royale with Cheese · 26-04-2021 12:40am

I watched this tonight, Netflix's own films are usually Dolby Vision or at least 4K but this was only HD. There was noticeable artifacting at times with darker scenes too or was that just me? I also had to turn down my surround speakers at the beginning of the film as they were way too loud and I couldn't hear the dialogue.

johnny_ultimate · 26-04-2021 1:06am

A pretty weak film tbh. Whatever about the flimsy writing, I don’t think the filmmakers knew what tone they were going for? The music and moody, subdued cinematography suggest some sort of looming menace, mystery or violence...

and there’s nothing of the sort.

None of it settled into a grove for me, the cinematic language used to tell the story operating on a different wavelength to the story.

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I watched this tonight, Netflix's own films are usually Dolby Vision or at least 4K but this was only HD. There was noticeable artifacting at times with darker scenes too or was that just me? I also had to turn down my surround speakers at the beginning of the film as they were way too loud and I couldn't hear the dialogue.

Yeah, it looks pretty ropey - there’s a lengthy shot of space at the end and there was just an articact-y splodge down the bottom of the screen. Sometimes Netflix don’t get Vision / 4K content when they just buy the rights to something for Europe... but yeah this one’s a wider release for them and it still looks less than optimal.

namloc1980 · 03-05-2021 11:22pm

I still can't get over how yer man

ended up being screwed inside a panel on the spacecraft and survived launch without anyone missing him. Seems like very loose protocols for the ground crew.

mikhail · 04-05-2021 11:55am

namloc1980 wrote: »

I still can't get over how yer man
ended up being screwed inside a panel on the spacecraft and survived launch without anyone missing him. Seems like very loose protocols for the ground crew.

There seemed to be some corner cutting in general. Maybe not as unlikely with commercial launches/missions as you'd think. He seems to have been

unconscious for five hours, which is very serious and maybe speaks to a serious head injury during take-off but was maybe downplayed at little. The movie cliche of the hero giving or receiving a blow to the head and waking up half an hour later with no ill effects worse than a headache is complete nonsense. If you're unconscious for longer than a few seconds, you need medical attention.

expectationlost · 04-05-2021 10:01pm

at the end of the film

she should have taken a paperback out of her pocket and started reading

, in order to complete the callback.

Homelander · 05-05-2021 3:30pm

Thought it was.....OK. Which isn't the most scathing criticism of a movie these days, but it could've been a lot better. Putting aside the bizarre, implausible opening, it looks good and it's reasonably compelling.....until the end, when it just sort of loses its way.

Not the worst thing you could watch on Netflix, but way down the list of worthwhile sci-fi drama.

expectationlost · 06-05-2021 2:05am

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

space science youtuber Scott Manley helped with the script and did a demo of the craft in 2011 Kerbal Space Program space simulation game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hic0mz3_U4c

namloc1980 · 07-05-2021 9:20am

mikhail wrote: »

There seemed to be some corner cutting in general. Maybe not as unlikely with commercial launches/missions as you'd think. He seems to have been
unconscious for five hours, which is very serious and maybe speaks to a serious head injury during take-off but was maybe downplayed at little. The movie cliche of the hero giving or receiving a blow to the head and waking up half an hour later with no ill effects worse than a headache is complete nonsense. If you're unconscious for longer than a few seconds, you need medical attention.

Yes it is extremely unlikely.

If the day comes that Spacex leave a member of ground crew screwed inside a panel on a Falcon/Dragon, then I'll agree.

There are incredibly high safety standards with human spaceflight.

De Bhál · 08-05-2021 9:27am

I watched it last night, and was a bit apprehensive after the last Netflix space movie I watched which was Midnight Sky with George Clooney. That, I thought was rubbish and this movie is better than that. Not much better but watchable.

the idea is good but trying to figure out how yer man got stuck in that panel would hurt your brain so you'd just have to move on from that. It seemed to finish up kind of suddenly also I thought. I did wonder was there enough oxygen for all three that were left etc... but really I was just glad it was over.

flasher0030 · 08-05-2021 2:20pm

De Bhál wrote: »

I watched it last night, and was a bit apprehensive after the last Netflix space movie I watched which was Midnight Sky with George Clooney. That, I thought was rubbish and this movie is better than that. Not much better but watchable.
the idea is good but trying to figure out how yer man got stuck in that panel would hurt your brain so you'd just have to move on from that. It seemed to finish up kind of suddenly also I thought. I did wonder was there enough oxygen for all three that were left etc... but really I was just glad it was over.

Ya, overall it was a bit of nothing. The sequences of retrieving the oxygen cannisters were exciting. But other than that, it was basically filler. And ending was a bit of nothing. W

hy would a lady in her prime just give up her life for a random stranger who wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.

But at the end of the day, it is only fiction, so I guess they can play it however they want.

Have no idea how the dude got stuck in there when that panel was subsequently bolted from the outside.

Anyway, passed 2 hours, but I wouldn't recommend. Much better files out there to spend 2 hours of your time on.

Kirby · 08-05-2021 5:58pm

Follow this through with me.

So, we are supposed to believe that the small tank of liquid o2 that Anna Kendrick's character returned with is supposed to be enough air for one person to survive several months.

Okay......

So why wouldn't a ship that size have several of those canisters in reserve just lying around? Think about it. The tank was tiny. Why wouldn't you just pack a dozen of them? Engineers are smart.

I'm all for suspension of disbelief and plot holes don't usually bother me. Like the guy stowing away doesn't bother me. You just accept it so the film can happen. But the oxygen thing is a logical fail on so many levels and bothered me for the last 40 minutes of the film. Most of the science in this was spot on. From the method of creating gravity, to the length of time the mission would take, to using cycler's to get to mars. All great and grounded in reality. Which makes the oxygen thing all the more perplexing.

The film itself was average enough. I saw somebody compare it to The Martian earlier in the thread and I couldn't disagree more. The Martian is leagues better than this.

Fysh · 08-05-2021 6:25pm

There's an offhand remark from the commander about how the original plan for the ship was for 2 crew members and how the (I assume private co. rather than govt-linked) organisation behind the launch decided to push the limits of the design late in the day and bump the mission to 3 crew. So they were probably already using some of their original contingency to allow for a 3rd crew member, then a 4th is effectively stealth-added.

NASA would never let a mission hit these problems (they are very keen on durability of kit and also providing multiple redundancy for core systems wherever possible), hence my assumption that this is a private Virgin Galactic/SpaceX type outfit where there's more wiggle room for a senior mgmt numpty to throw a spanner in the works and make a stupid demand like "increase the crew by 50% but don't allocate any additional resources towards life support etc".

(Since someone mentioned it - the medic choosing to give herself up rather than yer man was sketched out reasonably well, I thought. She clearly takes her role as a doctor seriously and has strong moral problems with the idea of even indirectly killing someone. So in a situation where there are no good options, she decided that the least bad option was to sacrifice herself rather than harm someone else. Bit of a problem if the mission needs a medic at any later point, but again, No Good Options and all that...)

Sad Professor · 08-05-2021 6:35pm

Yeah I thought it was clearly implied that the space organisation was private and was cutting corners. I expected a third act with a Moon-esque twist regarding this but instead the film just sorted stopped like they ran out of film or something.

TBh people are thinking about it too much. Most of the plot was fine and more solid than 90% of Hollywood plots. If the story and characters were compelling enough you wouldn't care about why they didn't pack extra canisters etc. In any case, the answer is that if they had there wouldn't have been a movie... which probably would have been for the best mind you.

The biggest issue with the film imo was that first act. It's so weak and annoying that by the time the story starts to pick up that the audience has already decided the film sucks.

pixelburp · 08-05-2021 6:52pm

The script needed another pass. I thought the movie was fine but its problems all stemmed from its script wanting for another set of eyes to embellish some of the world-building, as well as the structure of its acts. As you guys have said, the Cost Cutting was a deliberate choice and a good potential segue but never got the kind of room it needed - especially as a way to explain the Stowaway for those requiring the mental leap. Plus with the last act, I felt like I could hear the writer just going "Uhhhhh, I dunno; just do the same set piece again I guess? Something something noble sacrifice... Let's do lunch"

Cos to be fair, the premise was, and remains, fantastic and an easy pitch for high drama.

Fysh · 08-05-2021 7:32pm

I'd agree with that

I thought the strengths of the film were the character performances, and it was a pleasant surprise to not have to have Bombastic Blockbuster Nonsense (The Martian and the "fly around like Iron Man" bit, I'm looking at you) in a film like this. But definitely the plot and setup could have done with at least one more round of polishing.

On a different note - according to Wikipedia the budget was $10M, which is quite impressive I think - while the film is very theatrical in nature and is at its core about a moral dilemma, I would've guessed a higher budget.

pixelburp · 08-05-2021 7:40pm

Fysh wrote: »

I'd agree with that

I thought the strengths of the film were the character performances, and it was a pleasant surprise to not have to have Bombastic Blockbuster Nonsense (The Martian and the "fly around like Iron Man" bit, I'm looking at you) in a film like this. But definitely the plot and setup could have done with at least one more round of polishing.

On a different note - according to Wikipedia the budget was $10M, which is quite impressive I think - while the film is very theatrical in nature and is at its core about a moral dilemma, I would've guessed a higher budget.

On that, I had been wondering. That budget is absolutely miniscule yet the detail of the ship and equipment was most excellent (convincing too to these layman's eyes). My thoughts were if like those companies who specialise in airplane sets to rent (for the innumerous scenes on jet liners) there are modular "space station" sets you can pay access to. Configure them as needed, add some singular details for your specific feature then off you go.

Presumably those actors worked to scale then, but even then by modern standards, 10 million is buttons.

Stowaway [Netflix]

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