“Life in space is impossible,” the opening crawl of Gravity informed us — and every movie about a space station certainly seems to agree. Here’s yet another crew experiencing breakdown and terror in the vacuum. While this one avoids the hoariest clichés (the helpless victim behind sealed doors), it also swerves into action when its very premise seems designed for psychological terror instead.
Kira (Ariana DeBose) is a newcomer to the International Space Station, welcomed aboard by the half-American, half-Russian crew. She’s barely begun her second day when nuclear war breaks out back on Earth. The US commander, Gordon (Chris Messina), and his Russian counterpart, Nicholai (Costa Ronin), are both ordered to secure the station. That could have been the premise for a tragically effective, dramatic thriller, with six scientists trying to figure out whether they can trust one another and re-establish contact with a ruined world. Instead, all hell breaks loose.
Kira (Ariana DeBose) is a newcomer to the International Space Station, welcomed aboard by the half-American, half-Russian crew. She’s barely begun her second day when nuclear war breaks out back on Earth. The US commander, Gordon (Chris Messina), and his Russian counterpart, Nicholai (Costa Ronin), are both ordered to secure the station. That could have been the premise for a tragically effective, dramatic thriller, with six scientists trying to figure out whether they can trust one another and re-establish contact with a ruined world. Instead, all hell breaks loose.
- 4/24/2024
- by Helen O’Hara
- Empire - Movies
Sex, ‘80s, and Robby Müller: How Two Brits Recreated the American Crime Film in ‘Love Lies Bleeding’
Unlike most of the next generation of great director-cinematographer pairings, Ben Fordesman and Rose Glass didn’t have a collaborative history prior to their first feature “Saint Maud.” They didn’t go to school together or make short films — it was Fordesman’s agent who made the connection for “Saint Maud.”
And in interviewing both Glass and Fordesman for this story, it’s clear on the first project they were feeling each other out, figuring out how the other worked, and then at some point it just clicked.
Glass described the development of a visual style on “Saint Maud” that became the basis of their work on their second feature, “Love Lies Bleeding.” “I think that naturally we had a bit of a shorthand, I guess trying to constantly balance this being of [and] in the real world, but also kind of not,” said Glass, while she was a guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast.
And in interviewing both Glass and Fordesman for this story, it’s clear on the first project they were feeling each other out, figuring out how the other worked, and then at some point it just clicked.
Glass described the development of a visual style on “Saint Maud” that became the basis of their work on their second feature, “Love Lies Bleeding.” “I think that naturally we had a bit of a shorthand, I guess trying to constantly balance this being of [and] in the real world, but also kind of not,” said Glass, while she was a guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast.
- 3/30/2024
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Gabriela Cowperthwaite gained international fame by making documentaries, most notably Blackfish, and since then has gone on to produce and direct feature films as well. Her latest work, I.S.S. is a hotchpotch of other movies with obvious messaging for the viewers. One thing about I.S.S. is that it looks on par with movies such as Gravity, Life, and Sunshine, but the filmmaking is not able to evoke the same kind of horror as the other films did. I.S.S. remains quite subdued most of the time, and perhaps the performances are to blame here for not quite grasping the weight of the moment. Ultimately, Cowperthwaite is the captain of this ship, and it doesn’t sail too far.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
The newest member, Kira, a biological engineer, boards the International Space Station (Iss), and the American team is now at par in strength as compared to the Russian team.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
The newest member, Kira, a biological engineer, boards the International Space Station (Iss), and the American team is now at par in strength as compared to the Russian team.
- 2/7/2024
- by Ayush Awasthi
- Film Fugitives
This article contains spoilers for "I.S.S."
One of the first major theatrical releases of 2024 is the sci-fi thriller "I.S.S." With a minimal cast and an intriguing premise, the film essentially plays out like a slasher film in space where nobody can trust anyone else, and everyone is at risk of dying. It's a lethal, twist-filled ride at the International Space Station and, as anyone might have guessed from the trailers alone, not everyone is going to make it out alive.
The ending of the film leaves much to discuss as it arguably leaves viewers with more questions than it does provide answers. Who survived? What fate awaits those survivors? What is happening on Earth? What about the cure for radiation sickness? We're going to talk about it and try to get to the bottom of it all. Let's get into it.
Read more: Critically-Panned Sci-Fi Movies That Are Actually Worth...
One of the first major theatrical releases of 2024 is the sci-fi thriller "I.S.S." With a minimal cast and an intriguing premise, the film essentially plays out like a slasher film in space where nobody can trust anyone else, and everyone is at risk of dying. It's a lethal, twist-filled ride at the International Space Station and, as anyone might have guessed from the trailers alone, not everyone is going to make it out alive.
The ending of the film leaves much to discuss as it arguably leaves viewers with more questions than it does provide answers. Who survived? What fate awaits those survivors? What is happening on Earth? What about the cure for radiation sickness? We're going to talk about it and try to get to the bottom of it all. Let's get into it.
Read more: Critically-Panned Sci-Fi Movies That Are Actually Worth...
- 1/25/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
There’s something about January that just makes us crave movies about comically stupid aviation and space travel mishaps. Whether that stems from a sincere desire for post-holiday palette cleansers or Pavlovian conditioning from a lifetime of studios dumping their misfires in the first six weeks on the calendar is beside the point. This is the time of year that brought us the basic cable heroism of “Plane” and the joyless asininity of “Moonfall” and the wide spectrum of mediocrity that exists between them. In that sense, “I.S.S.” is just another entry in a proud cinematic tradition.
Documentarian-turned-narrative-filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite‘s new would-be blockbuster is the kind of film whose box office haul would have dwarfed the Gdp of several developing nations had it been released in 1989 with Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren in the lead roles. The entirety of the contained thriller takes place on board the International Space Station,...
Documentarian-turned-narrative-filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite‘s new would-be blockbuster is the kind of film whose box office haul would have dwarfed the Gdp of several developing nations had it been released in 1989 with Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren in the lead roles. The entirety of the contained thriller takes place on board the International Space Station,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Watching the science-fiction space thriller I.S.S., I couldn’t help but get the feeling that maybe this claustrophobic and talky material might be better suited as a stage play than as a movie, where audiences might be anticipating something a bit more compelling along the lines of a Gravity or an Alien.
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s competent direction of Nick Shafir’s Black List script never manages to set the screen on fire as it is more focused on the increasingly tense relations between two trios – one American astronauts, the other Russian cosmonauts — aboard the International Space Station just as war between the two countries breaks out on Earth, causing great complication and conflict for the six.
Spending too long to get this 95-minute space opera rolling, we meet the various players including Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose), the newest arrival, joining with Commander Gordon (Chris Messina) and the slippery...
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s competent direction of Nick Shafir’s Black List script never manages to set the screen on fire as it is more focused on the increasingly tense relations between two trios – one American astronauts, the other Russian cosmonauts — aboard the International Space Station just as war between the two countries breaks out on Earth, causing great complication and conflict for the six.
Spending too long to get this 95-minute space opera rolling, we meet the various players including Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose), the newest arrival, joining with Commander Gordon (Chris Messina) and the slippery...
- 1/19/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Ariana DeBose in I.S.S.Image: Bleecker Street
Ever since Georges Méliès sent audiences out of orbit in 1902 with A Trip To The Moon, filmmakers have been busy crafting distinctly textured space-themed stories, ranging from tender to terrifying. It’s a setting that provides claustrophobic tension and awe-inducing wonder,...
Ever since Georges Méliès sent audiences out of orbit in 1902 with A Trip To The Moon, filmmakers have been busy crafting distinctly textured space-themed stories, ranging from tender to terrifying. It’s a setting that provides claustrophobic tension and awe-inducing wonder,...
- 1/17/2024
- by Courtney Howard
- avclub.com
The war on Earth will be decided in space in Bleeker Street‘s upcoming sci-fi thriller I.S.S., and a brand new trailer unveiled today teases the paranoia-laden crew battling for control aboard the International Space Station.
I.S.S. releases in theaters on January 19, 2024.
In I.S.S., “Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.”
Watch the new trailer below that sets the battle lines and tense atmosphere as the astronauts are pit against each other in the claustrophobic thriller.
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, working with Nick Shafir’s Blacklist script, assembled an impressive cast for the sci-fi thriller that includes Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina (The Boogeyman), Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova.
Expect an intense, zero...
I.S.S. releases in theaters on January 19, 2024.
In I.S.S., “Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.”
Watch the new trailer below that sets the battle lines and tense atmosphere as the astronauts are pit against each other in the claustrophobic thriller.
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, working with Nick Shafir’s Blacklist script, assembled an impressive cast for the sci-fi thriller that includes Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina (The Boogeyman), Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova.
Expect an intense, zero...
- 12/4/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Bleecker Street has picked up the U.S. rights to the sci-fi thriller I.S.S., directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and starring Ariana DeBose and John Gallagher Jr.
The space pic, written by Nick Shafir and produced by Ld Entertainment, marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Cowperthwaite after the 2017 biographical drama Megan Leavey. Bleecker Street, which plans a nationwide theatrical release for I.S.S., also previously teamed with Ld on Sean Ellis’ Anthropoid and Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit.
I.S.S. had a world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and has an ensemble cast that includes Chris Messina, Pilou Asbæk, Costa Ronin and Masha Mashkova. I.S.S. follows six astronauts — three American, three Russian — aboard the International Space Station as they conduct scientific research. That’s until, back on Earth, war apparently breaks out between the U.S. and Russia.
Those international tensions have the rival...
The space pic, written by Nick Shafir and produced by Ld Entertainment, marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Cowperthwaite after the 2017 biographical drama Megan Leavey. Bleecker Street, which plans a nationwide theatrical release for I.S.S., also previously teamed with Ld on Sean Ellis’ Anthropoid and Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit.
I.S.S. had a world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and has an ensemble cast that includes Chris Messina, Pilou Asbæk, Costa Ronin and Masha Mashkova. I.S.S. follows six astronauts — three American, three Russian — aboard the International Space Station as they conduct scientific research. That’s until, back on Earth, war apparently breaks out between the U.S. and Russia.
Those international tensions have the rival...
- 8/16/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the war in Ukraine creates ever growing tensions between the United States and Russia, it makes one wonder how it will affect the interpersonal dynamics among the astronauts on board the International Space Station. Do they ignore geopolitical strife and concentrate on their duties? Do they get into arguments over their countries’ respective positions? Or do they literally attempt to murder each other?
The last premise forms the basis of Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s tense thriller receiving its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Nick Shafir’s screenplay (an entry in the 2020 Black List of the year’s best unproduced scripts) concerns six astronauts — three American, three Russian — working harmoniously together until war apparently breaks out between the two countries. The Americans receive a message from NASA instructing them, “Your new objective is to take control of the Iss. By any means necessary.” The question is, did the Russian...
The last premise forms the basis of Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s tense thriller receiving its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Nick Shafir’s screenplay (an entry in the 2020 Black List of the year’s best unproduced scripts) concerns six astronauts — three American, three Russian — working harmoniously together until war apparently breaks out between the two countries. The Americans receive a message from NASA instructing them, “Your new objective is to take control of the Iss. By any means necessary.” The question is, did the Russian...
- 6/14/2023
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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