I.S.S. (2024)

​“I.S.S.” stars Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Maria Mashkova, Costa Ronin, and Pilou Asbæk. Released on January 19, 2024, the film has a group of astronauts confronting each other aboard the space station.

The film was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, who also directed “Blackfish,” “Megan Leavey,” “Our Friend,” and “The Grab.” Space isn’t without a breathtaking view of our home planet, Earth. However, as the previous space-related movies I’ve watched depicted, it also houses dangerous scenarios like being attacked by aliens and drifting endlessly into the galaxy. This film may not have any of those things, but it does have a nightmare worse than death: humanity. The final two weeks of January looked pretty empty from a theatrical and streaming perspective regarding the number of releases. However, this weekend does have one that has piqued my interest since the trailer came out, and it’s a space thriller involving people fighting for control over a space station. I guess in space, we can hear more than just people’s screams. This film sees Gabriela Cowperthwaite returning to feature film territory for the first time since 2019 with “Our Friend”, hoping to get more people to remember her existence, including me. With that said, let’s head into space and see if this thriller is out of this world. 

The story centers on a group of American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. They consist of Dr. Kira Foster (DeBose), Gordon Barrett (Messina), Alexey Pulov (Asbæk), Christian Campbell (Gallagher Jr.), Nicholai Pulov (Ronin), and Weronika Vetrov (Mashkova). Amid the relaxing and peaceful get-together between the two countries, the group eventually discovers that Earth is in the middle of a worldwide conflict between America and Russia. They also learned that they received orders from the respective countries to take control of the space station. As a result, these friends are pitted against each other as they take drastic measures to assume possession of the I.S.S.

I first heard of this film from the trailer that played before “Godzilla Minus One.” Its concept immediately reminded me of the previous movies involving people in closed spaces, which I enjoyed for their use of claustrophobic tension. That’s one reason for my interest in “I.S.S.” The other is director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The last movie I watched from her was “Megan Leavey” in 2017, which starred Kate Mara as the titular character. Long story short, I thought Cowperthwaite did a great job honoring the female Marine with her direction and storytelling. I also heard that “Our Friend” and her other documentaries are just as good, but I haven’t watched those movies. Hopefully, that might change sooner or later. Based on her track record, we’d assume that “I.S.S.” could become another attention-grabbing hit for the filmmaker, especially in the sci-fi thriller genre. Instead, it became a one-hit wonder that may be worth seeing once.

“I.S.S.” is one of those movies that left me conflicted, like choosing between two of my favorite foods at a restaurant. On the one hand, it has a few moments that benefit from the unnerving feel of being in the same station with someone you may or may not trust. On the other hand, the movie doesn’t offer much else to elevate its stirring ideas and characters. As a result, “I.S.S.” becomes a test of discomfort that struggled to decide between being a thrilling and emotional depiction of war affecting humanity or a straightforward piece of popcorn entertainment. It bounces back and forth between the two, leaving no room for the movie to become its own identity. That’s not to say the film is as terrible as “Night Swim” because I enjoyed a few things that kept “I.S.S.” from crashing down early. However, I will say that I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t love it as much as the early reviews suggested.

One of the things benefitting the movie was the cast. While there weren’t any standouts in this small lineup, I was impressed with their efforts in capturing the characters' fear and dread and keeping the story from being too dull. Ariana DeBose continues to impress me again, thanks to her solid performance as Kira Foster, a scientist caught in a space feud. She may not be a big box office draw recently, but DeBose is another star with enough talent to compensate for it. Based on what I’ve seen from her so far, I believe it’s something that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Chris Messina and Pilou Asbæk were also decent as Gordon Barrett and Alexey Pulov, respectively.

Another element was Gabriela Cowperthwaite's direction. The crucial part of making a single-location movie is capturing the authentic feeling of fear, loneliness, and danger. It reflects the claustrophobia of being trapped in a single room or building with no sign of help, whether you're alone or with someone you don't trust. It’s also not without the fear of not knowing what’s happening in the outside world. In this case, “I.S.S.” depicts a devastating war occurring on Earth, but the group has no clue if any of their friends and family survive. A thought like that can really make a person lose their marbles. Cowperthwaite was the latest filmmaker to tackle this narrative approach, and I thought she did pretty well. Was it as groundbreaking as her previous movies like “Megan Leavey”? No. However, she understood the objective of reflecting the authenticity of a space station regarding its production design and passable visuals and accomplished it.

Unfortunately, the only downsides to Cowperthwaite’s direction were the dramatic tension and Nick Shafir’s screenplay. The movie is a steady-moving thriller drama focusing on representing the characters during the first act before it has them at each other’s throats. It’s a suitable way for the audiences to know them and their motives, but once the film reaches the breaking point, it falls a tad short of being a jaw-dropping experience like the other single-location films. There were a couple of times when the tension-filled scenes worked wonderfully, but the rest of the movie couldn’t quite preserve that intensity long enough to truly capture the fear and isolation. Some parts of the film were a bit too safe regarding its violence and drama. Additionally, the screenplay lacked any more fresh or exciting ideas to maintain my interest in the concept despite its attempt at making the cosmonauts more than just stereotypical Russian antagonists.

Overall, “I.S.S.” easily benefited from the talent in front of and behind the camera, but it struggled to complete its objective of being an unforgettably frightening experience. This is one of the movies that took me minutes to think about instead of seconds after I left the theater. I admired some of the filmmaking aspects of “I.S.S.”, especially Cowperthwaite’s approach to the single-location storyline. However, I was left feeling as empty as space itself, not because of its depressing and dark tone but because its execution of the concept did not impress me as much as I had hoped. Regarding its hit-and-miss tension and Shafir’s average screenplay, the film felt more like an “okay, that was an experience” than a “Wow! What an experience!” Fortunately, its engaging cast and production design were decent enough to prevent it from drifting off into the cold outer reaches of space. I didn’t hate it as much as “Night Swim”, but I was pretty bummed that it wasn’t great. I would say it’s fine enough to be watched once if you enjoyed the other single-location thrillers.

C