What's scarier than monsters and aliens? The human mind. What happens when you're losing your mind in space?
Spaceship Odyssey 1 is bound for Titan, Saturn's moon where methane is abundant and the substance can be used to help with the climate crisis on Earth. Three astronauts are traveling billions of miles for nearly three years, where the ship will be slingshot from Jupiter to reach Titan.
John (Casey Affleck; “Interstellar,” “The Finest Hours,” “Manchester by the Sea"), Captain Franks (Lawrence Fishburne, “John Wick: Chapter 4”), and astrophysicist Nash (Tomer Capone) go into hibernation in their individual sleep pod for 90 days. They wake up every cycle to eat, shower, exercise, walk around and check on the ship.
The drug-induced hibernation is heavy with side effects, causing exhaustion, anxiety and paranoia, to the point that it would lead into hallucination. The total isolation and silence, especially after losing communication with Earth, amplifies the stake.
John begins to see Zoe (Emily Beecham) on the ship, the spaceship designer and former girlfriend, even as he convinces himself it's not real. When an object hits the ship and part of the ceiling pops out, but the computer diagnostics don't show anything's wrong, Nash begins to fear that staying the course would seriously jeopardize their safety. Franks, as the captain, holds his ground and believes nothing is wrong, and instructs Nash and John to continue the journey to Titan, for the good of mankind.
Mudslinging follows. At the end of the day though, disobeying the captain's order is considered insubordination, and there's serious consequence, especially in space with no way out and no escape. John has to pick a side, although it doesn't mean he doesn't doubt his choice or that he sticks to it.
John's relationship with Zoe is shown in flashbacks, from their first chance encounter to private moments, and differences that led to their separation. Pay attention to the conversations, imageries, dreams and symbolisms, as they will come in handy later.
The atmosphere contained within the sterile, greyish teal walls is claustrophobically tense, awash with extreme fear. Soon each one of them doesn't know who to trust, as they can't even trust their own mind and begin to lose grip on reality. Franks is very frank with his position and is forced take drastic measures.
Who is right and who is wrong? Which scenes are real and which ones are hallucinations? What is reality when no one can say with certainty what they see, hear and experience is real? The scenes are eerily executed and unnervingly acted by all three actors that you can't possibly be sure either. The scenarios and explanations are all plausible. Everything looks and feels real; you would be hard pressed to tell who's who and what's what.
The penultimate scenes present a rationally plausible explanation about what's going on... until the final scene hits you in the head with mind-twisting veracity. No ambiguity, “Slingshot” is bracingly gutsy and will make you question what you've believed to be true.
