Stowaway
netflixQuietly dropping via Netflix or Prime Video, depending on the market, Joe Penna's sophomore feature Stowaway offers another fight for survival from the filmmaker with a combustible group of crew members thrown into chaos on a mission to Mars when it is revealed that a man named Michael (Shamier Anderson) was injured and accidentally ended up knocked out on the ship before launch. This throws the balance and plan completely off when it comes to the oxygen available to allow the team to live. This leaves a limited amount of time for the group to find a solution so they all don't die. It quickly becomes apparent that there are two paths towards this survival: either find a way to create more oxygen or reduce the number of people on board who take up the oxygen.
Similar to Penna's debut feature Arctic, Stowaway, at its heart, is a desperate fight for survival which carries a unique edge for the moral complexity found within this fight. Ultimately, the clock is rapidly counting down to where something needs to break in order for this crew to survive and a sacrifice has to be made somewhere. In order to possibly find more oxygen, the team needs to use resources meant for their mission – which therefore invalidated years of preparation and passion. On the opposite side of this debate is the ultimate sacrifice. To take one's life is obviously a tragic and morally awful action, but as the clock ticks down it becomes more likely that it will be the only option available. There is no easy answer that doesn't end in a major sacrifice of some kind and what makes this all the more tragic is how innocent the situation is. These characters got into this situation not due to their incompetence or ignorance and ultimately they now have to pay the cost for something they are not responsible for.
This complexity is further enhanced by the limited yet impressive cast on display throughout the feature. Anna Kendrick, specifically, is giving possibly the best work of her career – especially when it comes to depth and emotions with her character being the heart and soul that the audience is meant to connect with. On the sidelines, Daniel Dae Kim and Toni Collette give much more subtle but equally chilling performances filled with desperation and sorrow. Possibly the most important cast member, however, is Shamier Anderson as Michael. Whilst his character is the catalyst for the struggle these characters are facing, he has to come off as innocent and likable for the moral debate within the film to work, and Anderson does a great job connecting both with his fellow cast and the audience.
While this emotional backbone of the film sounds great on paper, it does feel rather simple at times, especially for the setup of the film. The editing from Ryan Morrison clearly attempts to create scenes of tension that almost border on being more of a thriller than anything else. When accompanied by the naturally suspenseful setup of a mysterious man being found on the ship, it is incredibly easy to be misled by the film itself as to what journey the feature will take the audience one which could lead to disappointment. Ultimately, even with the film's more complex moral debates, it clearly is trying to be a more grounded fight for survival which wherein a vacuum feels worthy, can feel unsatisfying against the expectations the filmmaking puts onto the audience.
The ending is also rather lackluster. Whilst there is an emotionally satisfying conclusion, specifically when it comes to Anna Kendrick's character, it feels more like a step towards a major conclusion than one itself. Anna Kendrick might be the lens through which the audience views the majority of the film through, but clearly the audience cares about the rest of the cast also, so to only give her character a truly satisfying conclusion feels rather unsatisfying.
On a more positive tone, it should be noted that the technical side of Stowaway is rather fantastic. Though it has been mentioned that the editing is rather misleading, the visual effects are rather stunning. There is only so much that can be done with reinventing this iconography, but the visual effects are all incredibly high quality and are elevated by the cinematography from Klemens Becker which has multiple inspired moments and shots that feel breathtaking. The score from Volker Bertelmann is also rather strong and unique, truly feeling like a step ahead of a generic space adventure score.
Stowaway is a challenging film that shoots itself in the foot at multiple points. However, there clearly is something special here with the mixture of great performances and legitimately intriguing morals; but rather than work to enhance this identity, the film works against itself. The film promises something it has no intention of delivering on and fails to find a worthy point or thesis within this struggle.
