If you are a fan of Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien film, if space horror is your thing, if you loved the way Gravity was shot, then Daniel Espinoza’s Life is definitely worth a watch. Not because it is a rip-off but because it takes the same tropes, makes them contemporary and adds something new. 

What worked

The first thing that works for the film is the fact that it is not set in a far, dystopian future but in the present with six astronauts waiting at the International Space Station (ISS) for a probe carrying sample from Mars. It is something that can happen now, which makes what unfolds infinitely more scary.
What the scientists on board the ISS discover in the soil sample is a single-cell organism, first proof of life outside Earth. Again, something that could happen any day. The organism is named Calvin by a girl who won the honour in a contest. 

The crew functions entirely in zero gravity, with none of the artificially-induced gravity fields that are part of so many space movies. And the film takes into account things that happen due to prolonged exposure to zero gravity. Like, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dr David Jordan, who has spent over 400 days in space, suffering muscular atrophy. 

Zero gravity makes the chase and the hide-and-seek between the crew and Calvin — who grows from a single-cell organism to a translucent, starfish-like thing that keeps growing bigger, feeding off oxygen, not just from the space station but also from the crew members it attacks — all the more nerve-wracking. 

In Prometheus, the prequel to Alien made by Ridley Scott, the scientists’ behaviour on discovering a life form is more of elementary schoolkids on a field trip. There is no method to the madness. In Life, however, every action is so well-sketched out that it seems like a plausible step. 

It is understandable that the exobiologist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) would want to study the organism and what it is capable of, and do so in space so that it is not a threat to Earth. It is also understandable why he tries to prod Calvin when it becomes dormant. Clearly a mistake, as it brings out the deadly nature of the creature from Mars. 

The film takes time to establish connections between the different crew members and you can actually imagine them being on the station for a while. Whether it is the brash Rory ‘Roy’ Adams (Ryan Reynolds) or family man Sho Kendo (Hiroyuki Sanada) or the by-the-book Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson). 

Some superb acting from the cast ensures that you are invested in the characters. Something that pays off when Calvin goes after each of the crew members, because each death matters.

Given that it is a space horror movie with an alien, you know that many people are going to die. But because there is no Ellen Ripley-like main character, you don’t know who is going to make it till the end of the movie. In fact, the first death of the movie is quite the shocker.

The deaths are suitably gory and the terror, at least in the first half, is quite intense. 

You will watch in horror as Calvin goes from curiosity to breaking all the bones of Derry’s hand when prodded with electricity. You cannot help but hold your breath when this “all muscle, all brain, all eyes” creature shows problem-solving skills, devising a way out of its containment, and proceeds to kill one of the crew, from the inside.

The ending is a surprise, especially after the crew go to lengths, including sacrificing their lives, to protect Earth from Calvin. Saying anymore will be a ‘dead’ giveaway.

What didn’t work

Despite all the newness and the upgrades, it is after all a genre film which follows the space-horror tropes and that can make Life a bit predictable. You know the alien will escape. You know that it will go after the crew. You know it will be capable of anticipating human behaviour. 

The pacing of the film could have been better. While the first half builds well, with us meeting the creature almost as soon as the movie starts, the second half races forward too fast. You are so busy trying to follow what is happening that you stop feeling the terror that made it difficult to breathe in films like Alien.

Oh, and Calvin is not even close to being as terrifying as the Xenomorph from Alien.

Chandreyee Chatterjee
What about Life worked or didn’t work for you? Tell t2@abp.in