Escape to the stars!
Or stay here on Earth …
Either way science fiction offers the kind of thoughtfully intriguing escape many of us are craving right now in world that often feels altogether too dystopian for anyone’s taste.
In these three films, we see the world in which we live from a number of clever perspectives, all of them living up to the endless malleability and expansiveness of sci-fi which has an endless ability as a genre to encompass all kinds of imaginative ideas in a way that feels otherworldly and yet very grounded all at once.
Many of us may still be in our homes or limited in what we can do in the outside world but here in these three films, we are given a passport to let our tamped-down thoughts and emotions run free and see where the world, past, present and future, can take us …
SNAPSHOT
A decorated Marine (Riz Ahmed) goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from an inhuman threat, in the latest from director Michael Pearce.Suspenseful, wildly imaginative, and eerily resonant, British director Michael Pearce’s follow-up to his TIFF ’17 Platform competitor Beast catapults us into a world where every encounter could lead to peril. Featuring an adrenalized lead performance from Riz Ahmed, this is a thriller for the age of cultural division and seemingly endless existential threat.
A decorated marine, Malik Khan (Ahmed) is trained to identify risk. But what if the risk appears totally ordinary? Malik sees bugs. Evil bugs. Alien bugs that seem to be seizing control of people, one after another. Malik can’t convince the world to sound the alarm, but he can at least protect his two young sons from global parasitic invasion — which might involve kidnapping them from the home of Malik’s estranged wife. (synopsis (c) TIFF)
ENCOUNTER opens on 10 December in cinemas and via Amazon Prime Video.
SNAPSHOT
The Matrix Resurrections is an upcoming American science fiction action film produced, co-written, and directed by Lana Wachowski. It is the fourth installment in The Matrix film series. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith reprise their roles from previous films in the series, where they are joined by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Eréndira Ibarra, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, and Brian J. Smith. (synopsis (c) Wikipedia)
The Matrix: Resurrections opens 16 December in Australia and 22 December in UK and USA.
SNAPSHOT
Set in the not too distant future, this intense sci-fi thriller explores the repercussions that mankind faces when their omniscient technology becomes a substitute for human contact. The meaning of life explored through multiple interconnected lives. But life begin to unravel when a global storm causes electronics to go haywire, leading to terrifying, deadly consequences. Warning is directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Agata Alexander, making her feature directorial debut after a number of music videos previously. The screenplay is written by Agata Alexander, Jason Kaye, and Rob Michaelson. Produced by Stanislaw Dziedzic and Cybill Lui Eppich. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
Warning opens on 22 October in US cinemas and via VOD.
I am soooo looking forward to Matrix 4. The trailer looks great. The teaser wasn’t as well done. But they’ve assembled the core cast for this again, so that should be exciting.