
LIFE (2017)
A modern Sci-Fi Horror that grips until the end.
It’s hard to say that Daniel Espinosa wasn’t a fan of Alien when you come across the trailer or premise for Life.
Six members of an International Space Station (ISS) appear to have advanced mankind forward for the better with the discovery of life on Mars, encased in the form of soil samples. Things escalate as quickly as cell-division when their martian pet (now named Calvin) enters a hostile survival mode aboard the station and begins growing at the expense of the ISS and her crew.
Despite being reminiscent of the tales on the Nostromo introduced in 1979 — the synopsis of Life is face-value to what it has to offer, just as the plainly titled film is simply just text on a ticket stub to a truly frightening experience. It takes the established conventions of hope, horror, and helplessness to the next level and beyond. I found myself squirming in my seat during most of the crew’s encounters with the spine-chilling and nightmarish Calvin — a creature that holds its own against the crew as well as a cinemas long list of space-monsters. The cast drives the experience home with just enough character to each of them for you to feel every hair that rises on they skin as though you share the same cabin space with the unsympathetic predator.
The film is excellently paced — opening with dense and establishing dialogue, developing the plot-propelling parasite, and also the beats of passing disadvantages facing the crew’s odds to survival throughout the hunt. All of this while maintaining the immersion of space with fantastic shots and sequences of the unbiased orientation found in the absence of gravity. It takes hold and leads you to places against your expectations with most of the exits covered in its plot. Invading your comfort zone and stretching the suspense until it snaps, waiting for hope to sprout again before it’s snuffed out.
If you’re looking for a good space thriller roller-coaster, Life certainly has a height-limit to its ride to ruin. A film that is palatable and masterfully crafted for the era as it brings something familiar but new to a genre with only a handful of notable films in cinema. It paints an amazing tragedy with its take on the vastness of the final frontier — and boy is there much to fear about the unknown.
