REVIEW: Orbiter 9

About a month ago on The Movie Breakdown podcast, my co-host and I got into a discussion about which foreign markets are our favourites for movies.  We ended up both agreeing that South Korea has probably some of the most entertaining films coming out of it, but there was some discussion about second place.  I believe I tried to make a case for Spain, and my co-host, Christopher Spicer, brought the case for Chile.  In the end, we recognized that outside of North America, there are some incredible things happening in cinema.  This week on the podcast we are breaking down a Spanish film called Orbiter 9.  A lot is riding on this movie, seeing as how I tried to make a case for Spain.

Without going to far right off the bat, it needs to be said that this is the third Netflix original in just over two months that is about people looking to space for answers as Earth is no longer able to sustain humanity.  Even though each of the movies are quite different (The Cloverfeild Paradox, and The Titan), perhaps they need to look closer at the types of films they are releasing on their service and maybe space ones with similar concepts out a little more.  It was bad enough when in 2013 we had three end of the world comedies spread over the year (It's a Disaster, This is the End, and Rapture-Palooza).  This time we have the movies condensed even more, and it does start to get tiring.

It's not writer/director Hatem Khraiche's fault that there are other movies with a  similar idea.  It's a story that has been told before, but Khraiche adds in another element, that of isolation.  This is something that we saw in Duncan Jone's Moon, and Joseph Kosinski's visually beautiful Oblivion.  And, in the vein of those other two films, not all is as it seems.  And, just like Moon, because of the twists of the story, this movie is difficult to review.  I can't mention any specifics, really.  There is so much that I could say that would give things away, so I will have to be wildly vague.

What I can tell you is that Helena (Clara Lago) is alone on a ship.  Her parents left the vessel three years prior when the ship lost its ability to create oxygen.  It was a sacrificial move that would give Helena longer to live and a chance that someone may hear the distress call and come to fix the problem.  That's exactly what happens, and the engineer that arrives is Alex (Alex Gonzalez).  He is a young man, attractive, and the only human being that Helena has ever seen that wasn't her parents.  His arrival on the ship will save her life, and things will never be the same for her.

What I like about this movie is the basic concept, sadly something that I can't mention here.  I think it is clean and tidy, and while it may travel a few conventional roads in some areas, it kept from feeling derivative to me.  Khraiche and the base ideas of his story are familiar, but that doesn't stop him from creating an experience that is unique to Orbiter 9.  While the twists are fun, I would put them below Moon, which was truly a grand experience, and they would go above Oblivion, though.  While Oblivion was beautiful and its first half very intriguing, it did fall apart.

I wish that I couldn't say the same thing of Orbiter 9, but that's what happens.  It begins with so much promise and then I felt like the story telling was what made the second half less enjoyable.  It comes down to the writing, as I can't believe some of the actions and decisions of the characters (if you want to know if a room is empty, simply open the door.  Don't go to the adjoining room for some odd reason).  The decisions of the characters are easy enough to brush off initially, but it gets to the point where I lose all understanding of their motivations.  The finale baffled me.

That's the main let down of the film, but otherwise it is fairly solid.  I like the pace of the film, and the acting talents are agreeable.  Clara Lago does a solid job with her character,  Her performance was enough to make me interested in seeing her in more movies.  This isn't any sort of acting clinic being put on, not like last week's First Match.

Not being able to talk about much of the movie has left me with little to say.  I really wanted to recommend this film and make it another Spanish film I could champion, and it was on its way to being that.  The problem is that it just became too much of an issue trying to understand why people made certain decisions and did certain things.  If you're looking for a stellar time with a Spanish movie, check out the comedy Bomb Scared or the intense drama 7 Anos.  Both are on Netflix and are a wonderful way to spend your time.  Even better, Moon is still on there, and if you want to see why Chris and I have been champions of Sam Rockwell prior to him becoming an Oscar winner, there is no better film to see.

Rating - 2 out of 4 stars