17 July 2021 | New Scientist | 31Film
Voyagers
Neil Burger
Now in UK cinemas
IT IS the year 2063 and Earth is
on the brink of destruction due to
climate change as the film Voyagers
opens. After discovering a new
planet that will take 86 years to
travel to, scientists have genetically
engineered children, raised them
in isolation and sent them to
this distant world so that their
offspring will ultimately colonise
it and save humanity.
Ten years into their journey,
the children start to question
their lives onboard the spaceship
Humanitas when Christopher
(Tye Sheridan) discovers that they
are being drugged to suppress their
personalities. Mission commander
Richard (Colin Farrell) originally
tries to quash their concerns,
but the teenagers begin to reject
their compliant existence.
Voyagers showcases plenty of
potential talent. Writer and director
Neil Burger, who showed he is
a dab hand at overseeing young
adult stories and sci-fi films in the
dystopian movie Divergent, doesn’t
get bogged down in the detail of
why they are leaving Earth. Instead
he sets up the background in a
succinct and expert fashion, as well
as teasing out the psychological
struggles that the teenagers will
go on to confront.
The film also has an impressive
young cast that can realistically
convey these issues. Sheridan,
Fionn Whitehead and Lily-Rose
Depp become more and more
convincing as their characters
develop from mere passive
passengers to increasingly
engaged individuals.
Throughout, Burger adds to the
sci-fi thriller’s sense of foreboding
and mystery. Cinematographer
Enrique Chediak’s eerie visuals
and the sleek but claustrophobic
set created by production designer
Scott Chambliss enhance the
ambience, while Burger himself
shows moments of cinematicflair that suggest Voyagers
might actually build to something
that is both epic and resonant.
It doesn’t take long for the film
to falter, though. All the thematic
possibilities that Voyagers flirts
with dissipate, replaced by a
predictable plot reminiscent of
dozens of other stories. In fact, as
it progresses, the film begins to playout like a carbon copy of William
Golding’s seminal 1954 novel
Lord of the Flies, minus the gravity.
Even though it continues to
look pretty, there is a complete
lack of depth, tension and surprise.
Voyagers merely plods along
exactly as you might expect, while
its haunting aesthetic and premise
vanish from the film like air leaving
a deflating balloon.
At least the performances
remain strong, as the actors
gallantly try their best to inject
some much needed energy and
heart into the proceedings. But the
dearth of characterisation leaves
the film feeling hollow.
Its final act in particular is
especially gruelling to watch.
Burger tries to ramp up the action
and spectacle, but by this point you
will have long given up caring about
any of the characters, let alone
whether they will be able to save
humanity from extinction. ❚Gregory Wakeman is a film critic and
writer based in Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe young characters in
Voyagers shed drugged
compliance for resistance VL
AD
CI
OPLEASpaced out
Teenagers on a voyage to save humanity learn that they are being
drugged. Gregory Wakeman finds out what happens next
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