Black & A Half

The Longest Running Comedy Podcast In Seattle. Probably.

Stowaway – Film Review

May 31, 2021 by Silas Lindenstein


Stowaway (2021)
TV-MA‧ Sci-fi/Drama ‧ 1h 56m
Written by Joe Penna & Ryan Morrison
Directed by ‎Joe Penna

THE CAST

Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson

THE STORY

(In their own words) A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.

THE REVIEW

There was a lot for me to be excited about this film. The premise looked amazing, love me some Toni Collette, Anna Kendrick is often a delight. Netflix has produced some really nice scifi Netflix originals. I was truly looking forward to this film. 

It’s no spoiler to say that the first 10-15 minutes are kind of an accurate representation of the film. It’s done a little odd. We get the point of view of the three astronauts, but we can’t hear them talking to mission control, let alone never see mission control. So we hear the one side of the conversation. Usually we can piece together what was said, but it is an odd choice. It makes the pacing a little disjointed and drags the scenes a little bit. And that’s how I would describe a lot of the film – disjointed and the scene drags a little bit. 

The premise of the film is that three astronauts are on their way to Mars when they discover a “stowaway”. A fourth person on the ship who was seemingly accidentally left on board before take off. The ship is going to fast and doesn’t have enough fuel to stop and turn around, leaving them with the dilemma – they don’t’ have enough air for four people. They have to figure out a way to produce more oxygen or their stowaway will have to go away. 

This is where the film starts showing to be more of a drama than a scifi film. It also starts to show it’s weaknesses here, because I really don’t care. We don’t learn very much about each character, other than each of their chances at a backstory monologue, but we don’t know enough about them to care about the fate of the travelers. Which is the ultimate sin of the filmmaker – they didn’t get me to care about anyone in the film. By the end, I could care less if they tossed the stowaway or someone else on board. 

Don’t get me wrong. The film wasn’t awful. The acting was really nice, for what the actors had to work with. Some of the cinematography was fantastic to help me feel like I’m floating through space with the actors. It’s just that somewhere between the script and direction, something got lost in space. 


THE BEST

Three BEST things about the film

1. Some lovely camera work to bring you into the moments.
2. Very nice use of a small cast
3. Nice acting job by Shamier Anderson

THE WORST

The three WORST things about the Film

1. Not very much depth into characters.
2. The odd choice that we never hear or see mission control. We only hear the one side of conversations. It’s a clear choice that doesn’t work.
3. Anna Kendrick feels miscast in this. 

THE LESSON

There are lots of ways to leave your mark and make a difference.


THE FINAL WORD

More “drama than scifi.” While it has an interesting premise to allow some character exploration, it is unable to bring an emotional response to the audience for a variety of reasons. 


THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Lose It.

If you like this post, please share it along:

Previous Post


A Quiet Place Part II – Film Review

Next Post


Episode #163: Tales of Ethics, Cryptocurrency, And Metal

About Silas Lindenstein

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply




Related Posts

  • A Quiet Place Part II – Film Review
  • Episode 178 – Kahlil & Shogi Silver – In The Company of Women
  • Episode #177: Reviews of Dune and Needle In A Timestack with Guest Dylan Cole
  • Episode 151: 3D Printed Chicken and reviews of Malcolm & Marie and The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things

About

  • About Black & A Half
  • Become A Black & A Half Patron!
  • Films
    • “Coming Out” – A Short Film
    • G.A. – A Short Comedy
    • The Final Piece – A Short Horror Film

Recent Posts

  • Review: Dungeons & Dragons:Honor Among Thieves
  • Review: Rye Lane
  • Review: Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
  • Review: Scream VI
  • Review: Champions

Categories

  • 7 Questions
  • Academy Awards
  • Action Films
  • Actor
  • Aftershow
  • Amazon Prime Films
  • Animated Films
  • Apple TV
  • Apps
  • Author
  • Baker
  • Being Woke
  • Best Of
  • Black Life
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Blerds
  • Burlesque
  • Christmas Cookie Challenge
  • Comedian
  • Comedy
  • Comic
  • Comic Book Movies
  • Comic Books
  • Comicon
  • Corona
  • Crime Film
  • Dancer
  • Documentaries
  • ECCC
  • Election Night
  • Emmy Awards
  • Fantasy
  • Film Festivals
  • Film Reviews
  • Film Reviews 2020
  • Film Reviews 2021
  • Film Reviews 2022
  • Film Reviews 2023
  • Filmmaker
  • Films
  • Films of 2021
  • Food Network
  • Foreign Films
  • Game of Thrones
  • Game Show
  • GeekGirlCon
  • Genres
  • ghosts
  • Halloween
  • Hip Hop
  • Horror
  • Horror
  • Hot Topics
  • Hypnotist
  • Improv
  • Interviews
  • Jazz
  • Life Coach
  • Live Events
  • MCU
  • model
  • Movie Reviews
  • Movie Reviews 2020
  • Movie Reviews 2021
  • Movie Reviews 2023
  • Movies
  • musicians
  • Mystery
  • native american
  • Nerd News
  • Netflix
  • Netflix Shows
  • Norwescon
  • Origin Stories
  • Parasite
  • parenting
  • Podcast
  • Politics
  • Post of The Week
  • Producer
  • quarantined
  • Religion
  • Robinhood
  • RomCom
  • Scientist
  • Scifi
  • Seattle
  • Seattle Mayor
  • Self Help
  • Short Films
  • Shows
  • SIFF
  • Singer
  • Stand Up Specials
  • Star Trek
  • Star Trek Picard
  • Star Wars
  • Stock Market
  • Storyteller
  • Superheroes
  • The Bookend
  • the Mandalorian
  • Theatre
  • Thriller
  • Thrillers
  • Travel
  • TV Reviews
  • TV Shows
  • tvreviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Games
  • You

Copyright © 2023 · Podcast Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in