Stowaway (2021)

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I'm a genuine lover of every genre in cinema, but sci-fi is one of my absolute favorites. Within this area of storytelling, I find one-location space movies - usually inside a spaceship of some kind - incredibly captivating when done right. Joe Penna (Arctic) directs and co-writes his sophomore film in a challenging environment for any renowned filmmaker, let alone someone who's starting to build his career. Creating a story and developing it through the same halls, walls, and rooms for two hours is definitely not an easy task if the goal is to convince viewers to stick around until the end. Entertainment and filmmaking-wise, it's a tremendous challenge.

With that said, Stowaway is the f...

Good watch, might watch again, and can recommend.
(Especially for those that liked Gravity.)

This is a very smart, and fairly technical movie about space, both surviving and traveling within it.

Gravity is the only other movie that seems similar (Passengers is more science fiction), and I'm really hoping to see more science fact movies like this come about.

While some of that may put you to sleep, the survival aspect should add enough drama for those looking for an interesting story alongside their space epic....

Stowaway had a solid premise, but it didn’t quite reach its full potential. The story is simple but could have been executed better. The tension is there, and the stakes are high, but a lot of moments feel forced rather than naturally unfolding. It also has some pacing issues, making it feel slower than it needed to be. The moral dilemma at the core is interesting, but the depth of the story doesn’t hit as hard as it should.

The directing is fine, nothing too special, but the cinematography and CGI are where things fall short. With the entire movie taking place on the spaceship, the visuals needed to feel immersive, but they just don't. The ship itself doesn’t look as real as it should, making some scenes feel like they’re missing that extra layer of realism. That being said, th...