In our house we call it the “Space Movie Problem”. It goes like this. It’s a Wednesday night and you and your boo have watched all the Ozark, Top of The Lake, House of Cards and Handmaid’s Tale you can take for a minute. In addition, you simply can’t bear to start that series you should have binged, because you just don’t have the bandwidth to get married to another show right now. No, what you want is a movie with space ships and lasers. You want doors to slide open and holographic displays to pop up in front of some attractive person in a futuristic uniform with a high collar and snazzy piping. You want high tech dog fights and aliens and a smart, clear plot that resolves itself in about 90 minutes. Problem is, you’re a committed geek and you see every science fiction film the same week it’s released. And, though you have access to all of your favorites at the click of a button, you don’t want to re-watch Blade Runner, Rogue One or The Wrath of Kahn tonight. You want something new and fresh. Sure, you can troll Netflix and Amazon for some straight to video one offs, but most of them are straight up terrible. See what I’m talking about? You’ve got a “space movie problem”. Well, The Osiris Child might just be the cure you’re looking for.
Helmed by Australian director Shane Abbess, The Osiris Child first premiered in the US at the 2016 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. And while it appears to be getting a limited theatrical release beginning October 6th, you can currently find it on-demand (for a sort of steep $10) on DirecTV. But, unlike most on-demand sci-fi fare, this one is totally worth it. In fact, it would be worth catching it in the theatre if you should find it screening in your area. By the way, when you go looking for it, know that it’s full title is Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child. Which is exactly the kind of thing that would keep us from clicking on it normally. I mean, the odds that anything with a title that clunky is going to be worth our time are very steep indeed. But the film does a fantastic job of pulling it off.
Working with a script he co-wrote with Brian Catchia, Abbess gives us a sci-fi thriller that, though limited by a modest budget, over-delivers in almost every department. Starting with the story that is set in a future were humans have expanded into the Universe and begun terraforming planets for colonization. Floating high above a dry and desert planet (that looks a lot like New South Wales) is the flotilla of the Ex-O, the military wing responsible for making the planet livable. Working as a pilot for Ex-O is Lt. Kane Sommerville (Daniel MacPherson), who has brought his daughter Indi (Teagan Croft) from Earth to give her a better life. Unfortunately, due to military rules, she must live on the planet while he floats on the station above. And even more unfortunately, Ex-O has been doing experiments on prisoners down on the planet. Experiments which have escaped and threaten to devastate the human population. Now Kane must journey across the world to save his daughter, before the company nukes the entire planet to cover up their crimes. Aiding Kane in his journey are an escaped prisoner, Sy (Kellan Lutz) and a couple of drug addled Bonnie and Clyde style step-siblings/lovers, Gyp (Isabel Lucas) and Bill (Luke Ford).
Though it is a fairly straight forward action plot, it is beautifully and thoughtfully written. And Shane Abbess direction is auteur level. Part George Miller and part Quentin Tarrantino, Abbess breaks the narrative into chapters that move backwards and forwards in time, revealing secrets and backstory about the main characters along the way. A film like this, with a budget this small has no business being this compelling, nor should it have visual effects that deliver at such a high level. There is an aerial dog fight scene early in the film that is the rival of anything seen in recent Star Wars films and that is not an exaggeration! Married to the CGI is a skillful use of practical effects, including creature creations that have Henson-level emotive properties. In fact, the entire aesthetic of the film, from the samurai-like armor worn by the prison guards to the rusty storage container shack inhabited by two scraggly arms dealers all manages to be consistent and satisfying.
The performances in the film also hit the mark, with all of the actors going all in. No smirking or tongue in cheek here. Instead the cast commits to the world and emotion of the story, with several heart wrenching scenes that reveal the pain that drives our main characters. In addition to our heroes, there is an excellent group of mostly Australian actors ringing in with solid performances. Of particular note is Rachel Griffiths as the evil EX-O General and Temuera Morrison as the slightly psychotic prison warden.
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But perhaps the best thing about The Osiris Child is that, in a world of franchises and reboots, this is an original bit of science fiction expertly delivered. It’s so refreshing to see a genre story told that didn’t originate on the pages of a comic or in some previous iteration. Untethered to “cannon” or the heavy weight of studio expectations, Shane Abbess gives us a VOD sci-fi thriller that delivers on every front, while at the same time, solving the “the space movie” problem. At least, for a while.
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