A ship carrying settlers to a new home on Mars after Earth is rendered uninhabitable is knocked off-course, causing the passengers to consider their place in the universe.
WHAT I LIKED: There's something about the depth of outer-space and the insignificance of man in it that has always allowed science fiction stories to bring the meaning of life into question, and that's exactly what Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja's 'Aniara' is all about as it casts a ship of people hoping to make it to Mars deep into the unknown. It's a very clever concept indeed - the idea of a giant shopping mall spaceship serving as a microcosm of future society and seeing what happens to those on it in such a desperate scenario is both dramatically and thematically fascinating.
When the initial announcement is made, anxiety rises, but with a solution in sight everyone carries on blindly. As soon as that hope dwindles however and the notion of a future beyond seems unlikely, people slowly start to lose the will to live. As the Captain says though, what's the difference between living on this huge ship over living on a planet? What's the real point to life? Well, once that central question rears its head, the film thankfully offers no grandstanding answers. Instead it seems that it's the beauty of earth on the one hand - but mostly the notion of future possibilities - that keeps us going. People on the ship are mostly happy to live out years with the promise of leaving for the next thing, but without that they spiral out of control in search of anything that might fill their hopeless void - human connection, sex, raising children, rituals or religion. None of this works though, and in the end the point the film makes is a bleak one; life is meaningless, and the only thing that keeps most of us going isn't the here and now, but future plans and the unlimited promise of planet earth.
As much as anything that makes for a rather important warning against Elon Musk's stupid Mars idea, but mostly it makes for a very intelligent and thought-provoking thematic journey.
That only translates though because the drama of the characters is executed well. The script doesn't allow explanatory dialogue to take over, and the performances are also very convincing. Emelie Garbers is magnetic as the frantic central character whose role has her interact with both the ship's management and the passengers, and that translates a further idea about the misplaced trust we have in our authorities. Couple that with the impressive production design which makes a mall setting feel like a spaceship that might actually exist, as well as a brilliant score from Alexander Berg, you've got yourself one of the most gripping, intelligent sci-fi movies to come out of the 21st Century.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Perhaps the characters could have been developed further to bring a little more humanity and emotional connection with the themes. In a way though, I'm glad that wasn't the case, as it's a depressing enough watch as it is.
VERDICT: Easily one of the most intelligent and original sci-fi movies of the 21st Century, 'Aniara,' cleverly unlocks a dissection of the point to life, and bleakly makes the point that there isn't really a point at all.
