SNAPSHOT
An Off-World Detective investigates the missing research vessel Atropa, and is met with a much larger mystery than he ever expected. (synopsis via Ain’t It Cool)
Let us never forget that space is a scary, scary place.
What with xenomorphic aliens running amuck wanting to eat you (Alien), predatory aliens out a-hintin’ (Predator), sentient ships channeling inter-dimensional hell (Event Horizon), people possessed by malevolent sun-based intelligences (Sunshine), and yes most scarily, Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars), it’s a wonder anyone ever straps themselves in and blasts off into the wild galactic beyond.
Still, one of the great charms of space, the many tales that take place within its limitless confines, is the possibility of mystery, of the great unknown, the chance to come across something way beyond your experience.
Granted, in most cases, it doesn’t well but that doesn’t stop people being seduced by the lure of space’s endless possibilities.
Talented L.A.-based filmmaker Eli Sasich is the latest person to find the narrative what-ifs of space too beguiling to ignore with his engrossing short film Atropa, about a research vessel that disappears off radar only to turn up with great chunks of time missing and an Off-World Detective looking for an explanation, opening all kinds of tantalising ideas about what might have happened and why.
It was created as a calling card of sorts for a feature film that Sasich is looking to make, and frankly if he can sustain the mystery and tension of this ten minute excursion into the chilling reaches of space, then the longer version of the story would be well worth going to watch.
Will someone just give him the money already?!
ATROPA — Sci-fi Short from Eli Sasich on Vimeo.