Directed by:
Sebastián CorderoScreenplay:
Philip GelattCinematography:
Enrique ChediakComposer:
Bear McCrearyCast:
Michael Nyqvist, Sharlto Copley, Embeth Davidtz, Christian Camargo, Daniel Wu Yin-cho, Anamaria Marinca, Karolina Wydra, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Dan FoglerVOD (4)
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A spaceship's crew travels to the far reaches of the solar system in search of life. Developed with NASA, this awe-inspiring thriller offers the most scientifically accurate representation of space travel. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
This needed more. Either in terms of the budget and visuals, or a more inventive script and better character work, because after approximately 15 minutes, I came to the conclusion that I was watching a 2-star film, and until the final minutes, I didn't have to change anything about that realization. The film should either be a spectacle or have the ability to evoke strong emotions, none of which happened. Sebastián Cordero showed that sci-fi doesn't necessarily have to be made with huge investments, but that's about it. Overall impression: 40%.
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A pedantically down-to-earth Prometheus with convincing behavior from all in this minimalist and incredibly orthodox sci-fi offering for genre connoisseurs. And one of the rare exceptions where the concept of found footage isn’t just a cheap trick hiding a low budget, but an integral component and one of the main building blocks of its effectiveness, which it also owes to the simple fact that it succeeds in creating the convincing illusion (I repeat, illusion, not real-life action) that “one day, when it happens, these people will behave exactly like this".
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There are dozens or perhaps even hundreds of second-rate horror movies and formalistic exhibitions in the mould of End of Watch that have stripped the found-footage concept (or, generally speaking, the illusion of an immediate recording of events) of any believability. The camera, seemingly in the immediate presence of events, has been degraded to merely a means of superficial ornamentation and spectacular presentation of attractions. In this context, Europa Report is an unexpected revelation. Its makers abandoned the limiting and dramatically retarded concept of a single camera continuously following the action and instead present viewers with footage from dozens of cameras monitoring a space expedition heading to one of Jupiter’s moons. The narrative is conceived as a report composed of footage from cameras aboard the ship and on spacesuits, promotional videos prior to lift-off and commentary assessing the depicted events after the fact. An essential aspect is that the reportage concept makes it possible to not present the events chronologically, but to instead piece them together dramaturgically for dramatic effect. The narrative works brilliantly with viewer expectations and ingeniously doles out and conceals information. Thanks to all of this, the illusion of camera footage in Europa Report returns to its original role as a narrative device rather than as a formalistic means of expression (as in Gareth Evans’ similarly conceived segment from V/H/S/2). Though it looks like the more expensive Apollo 18 in the first teaser, Europa Report ultimately proves to be a brilliant sci-fi movie from the ranks of humanistic stories about the fragility and smallness of man transported from his home planet into the captivating and dangerous endlessness of space.
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A completely believable, tense to chilling sci-fi that is of credit to the genre and again instills a thirst for space science. Cordero uses the concept of camera recordings cleverly and through sensitive dramaturgy he exploits the viewer’s questions for the good of the story. As a Clarke lover, I was thrilled by the mission to Europe (the setting for more than one Space Odyssey) where life may exist in the oceans beneath the ice. The casting is faultless, even though the most memorable were the trickster Sharlto Copley and the unerring Michael Nyqvist. No shortage of charged scenes and you might not realize it yet, but one of the experiences of the year is waiting for you. - I forgot my toothbrush. - Then we’ll just have to go back to Earth.
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I like that the creators of sci-fi movies are not afraid to come up with new ideas lately. Europa Report does not break the boundaries with its originality, but it still contains a lot of messages that are worth thinking about. Add in the great international acting crew, filmmaking craft of a great quality, even though it is cheap, and you have a small-scale film about what might one day be pretty important events of humankind.
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