Oxygen

Alexandre Aja has already shown many times that he is a good filmmaker. He directs purposeful genre films, but he does it very well. In addition, I like how he has moved from horror to sci-fi, and even to intimate sci-fi. I really appreciate that. It's really an art to film a story about how one astronaut wakes up in a cryo chamber and maintain tension for an hour and a half. The film is not only played by the excellent Mélanie Laurent, but also the music, which, accompanied by the visuals, works wonders with the film. A good piece! (05/14/2021)

A claustrophobic, catastrophic sci-fi about a bio-form in a cryogenic box. Bewitching visuals, thrilling conversations with the sleazy voice of Mathieu Amalrica and relatively surprising plot twists are among the main attractions of Oxygen. It turns out that Aja doesn’t restrict himself to blood baths, but he also has a talent for storytelling. Want some sedative? (05/12/2021)

The first “point” occurs to you in the first few minutes, in a one-second flashback from the hospital, and the second comes about an hour later. Overall, the film is a jigsaw puzzle of familiar sci-fi and thriller motifs in which you will also find improbabilities in the logic (the development of the dialogue with artificial intelligence). Or, rather, you would find them if you wanted to seek them out, which you don’t, because it’s quite nice to watch – Aja’s directing is at a high level as usual, Mélanie puts in the work, and the last quarter of the film is a sci-fi visual caress. (05/16/2021)

Despite all the surprising events of the film, something is missing that would make me want to watch it a second time, but it is definitely a good film. It could be ten to fifteen minutes longer, because at the end, in addition to the main protagonist, the story also runs out of breath. Mélanie Laurent is excellent, Alexandre Aja uses the cramped space of the cryochamber in such a way that you do not get bored, and I really enjoyed the unpredictable computer MILO, which can execute almost any command, but only after it is properly told about it. One may guess the point, but it's mainly about the atmosphere, and it's great. (05/13/2021)

Alexandre Aja and sci-fi? It sounds like an oxymoron :D But in the end, it works brilliantly. Films with a single actor are always a gamble, as everything relies on their performance. Thanks to Mélanie Laurent, Oxygen succeeds remarkably—she’s an incredibly talented and versatile actress. I was a bit worried that the film might slip into a slower pace, given that it’s set in a single location in a cryo-chamber, but the opposite is true. The unsettling atmosphere, permeated with sheer helplessness, was excellently portrayed. The smartly written dialogues between the protagonist and the AI were engaging and occasionally offered a gripping pace. The mesmerizing audiovisuals also had a lot to offer. And the few twists the creators threw at us could definitely be described as "jaw-dropping." This term perfectly captures the essence of the film. I didn’t expect it, but Oxygen turned out to be a genre gem. Fantastic. For me, it’s 8/10. P.S. And for fans of more horror-oriented moments, don’t worry, Aja hasn’t forgotten you (the needle scene is quite intense). (07/17/2021)