By Shritan Varma

Bottomline:

A surprisingly smart take on alien horror, that absorbs you right from the opening sequence, and proves to be a highly entertaining, terrifying and claustrophobic joyride.

REVIEW

‘LIFE’ (no, not the board game) opens with an impressive four-minute long sequence that’s made to look like a single take. We’re introduced to our six crew members, portrayed by a diverse cast, and familiarised with the remarkably well-designed ISS (International Space Station), where we are to spend the next 100 minutes in.

Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), successfully retrieves a probe from Mars carrying a potential extraterrestrial life form, in this stunning opening sequence. Biologist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) examines it and provides the alien cell with glucose, thus ‘waking it up’. A lucky school back on Earth gets to name the cute little starfish-like organism ‘Calvin’.
Calvin starts to grow faster and observes Derry’s actions. However, like we’ve already seen in the trailers, all hell breaks loose as ‘Calvin’ (trust me, it sounds at least a little intimidating after you’ve heard the name as many times as the word ‘Life’ during the film) manages to escape and begins to eliminate the crew members one by one.

First things first, ‘Life’ is a pure ‘survival horror thriller’ with plenty of thrills and *blood* spills.
Much like the recent domestic release, ‘Trapped,’ it’s a claustrophobic cinematic experience that keeps you hooked for the entirety of its 105 minutes. Unlike, ‘The Martian’ and ‘Interstellar’, it doesn’t tie in a simultaneous sub-plot from Earth while the main action takes place in the vastness of space or on another planet.

It borrows its premise and major elements from Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’, and feels like a more exciting space-survival thriller than ‘Gravity’. However, though it doesn’t bring anything new to the table or break any new ground; it’s simply a solid entry in the ‘alien horror’ sub-genre. Unlike other ‘ Alien’ wannabes, it’s not a cliché-ridden blood fest with annoying jump scares and cheap horror film making techniques. Characters die in gruesome and unexpected ways, and at a couple of points in the movie, you actually feel shocked about the script’s ballsy decisions. Some die earlier than you expect, while two others die in a more horrible way than you probably imagined.

For a budget of 58 million, the CGI is actually very well utilised. The film is cleverly lit in a way that you don’t notice the lack of detail in the CGI used in the wider shots. Surprisingly, a fair share of practical effects have also been used. The alien, Calvin, looks more daunting with every form he takes.

There isn’t any ‘excellent’ performance in the film, and I wasn’t expecting one in a film like this. The six actors give everything they can in their roles, and none of them seem like they’re just phoning it in. Jake Gyllenhaal gets the most screen time. His character is the least interesting of the lot, but I still cared about him. What works is the chemistry between the actors. The first light-hearted fifteen minutes during which we see fun character dynamics and witty banter makes you actually care about them. Hence, ‘Life’ succeeds where most monster/alien films like Independence Day 2, Kong and Jurassic Works failed. The human aspect actually works, and the drama fillers interjected between the gory elimination sequences are quite refreshing. Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rebecca Ferguson, Olga Dihovichnaya and Gyllenhaal all work great together and form a very likeable on-screen team. There were times when I felt like giving the crew (or at least what was left of the crew) a big hug after all the chaos that they had been through, so that’s a huge win for the film. In the end, it often comes down to this relief you feel at the end of a genre film.

The screenplay is racy as it never deviates from its main and only storyline, and the score helps build the dramatic tension. It is constantly adrenaline pumping after Calvin escapes and the catastrophe is finally set in motion. The cinema hall started to feel like a space vessel for me (a feeling I haven’t got since ‘Interstellar’).

There are still a few problems I had with ‘Life’ though. None of the deaths in the second act really match the first and most horrifying one. The second act feels flat compared to the electrifying other two.

In the end though, I had a rollicking time at the cinema with ‘Life’. It’s the most frightening horror film I’ve seen since ‘Don’t Breathe’ (maybe because slimy tentacle murder is my kryptonite). The shocking twist will impress moviegoers, as it leaves a lot for one’s own interpretation. I couldn’t decide what was more disturbing: the petrifying and unpredictable kills or ‘Spirit In The Sky’ playing during the end credits after the twist.
‘Life’ is a beast of a film and worth your time at the movies. In all its glory. It’s this year’s ‘The Shallows’.