Aniara: More Bad, Pointless Science Fiction

I keep hoping to run into a little indie sci-fi film maybe half as good as Moon or a tenth as good as Under the Skin.  I think the Moon-reminiscent poster overcame my reluctance to see another foreign indie low-budget sci-fi flick.  My aspirations proved futile.

Aniara is mostly atrocious, if marginally better than High Life.  I think both are trying to take this skewed European sensibility of everyday life-with-a-couple-crises-thrown-in and apply it to a space travel framework.  It’s like a bad French film à la La Chambre Bleue set aboard a big cruise ship in space.  The result for both High Life and Aniara is nothing short of a horrendous, slow moving torture session.  I would literally rather stare at the monolith of 2001 for two straight hours than sit through this movie.

I think there is a potentially poignant English Patient-ish point that is trying to be made with this movie.  But with wide, maw-like gaps in premise and execution set upon a flimsy skeleton of a story, that point is never let to breathe.

I WOULD LITERALLY RATHER STARE AT THE MONOLITH OF 2001 FOR TWO STRAIGHT HOURS 

As I watched this dismal film, I had wistful remembrance of Passengers, a downright brilliant thrill-ride by comparison.  2/10

Comparison Notes: besides those mentioned above, Snowpiercer