Life (2017)

Horror sci-fi directed by Daniel Espinosa. 

A crew of six aboard the International Space Station intercept samples from Mars that turn out to contain a deadly organism. This life form quickly grows in size and power, endangering the crew, the mission and possibly humanity itself. 

Life was criticised for being reminiscent of Alien and Gravity and it’s true that there are similarities with both of those classics. However, what it does it does extremely well: it’s suspenseful and even has a hint of the blackest humour – especially in the bitter twist of the ending. 

The six characters are well drawn and Rebecca Ferguson is especially convincing as Dr. Miranda North. The only thing that pulled me out of the film was that Jake Gyllenhaal plays a character who is too “weird” and “troubled” to fit the easygoing well-balanced profile of an astronaut. He would never have passed the psychometric tests for selection.

The music, by Jon Ekstrand, is terrific and does a lot to build the mood.

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