By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Bruno Samper | Kristina Buozyte
Starring: Eddie Marsan | Melanie Gaydos | Raffiella Chapman | Richard Brake | Rosy McEwen
Country: belgium, france, lithuania
Year: 2022
Running time: 114
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20225374/reference/
Michael says: “This ambitious science fiction film takes the viewer into a post-apocalyptic dystopia where animals have been wiped out, wealthy, privileged humans live in protected enclaves, the rest of humanity struggle for food, water and shelter in an inhospitable environment, and flora has mutated and evolved into dangerous and unpredictable growth. Vesper is a young teen who has discovered an untrained brilliance, particularly around science and genetics. Her father is paralyzed and unable to speak, but his consciousness inhabits a drone that travels around the dangerous landscape with Vesper. Vesper’s brother leads a scrappy colony of outsiders who use ruthlessness and cruelty to survive the harsh conditions of this world, and his threatening demeanor keeps Vesper from joining the colony and only interacting with them when absolutely necessary. Vesper’s mother has wandered off and joined a mysterious group of pilgrims, who wander the countryside collecting scrap metal and avoiding contact and interaction with everyone else.
“When an enclave shuttle crashes near Vesper’s home, she discovers a young woman injured nearby. Vesper gets her back to her home, and despite her father’s warnings helps her recover in the hopes that she might be able to help them. Vesper is experimenting with the plantlike to try and make self-sustaining seeds that will support crops again, and her laboratory equipment is scavenged and very limited. Camelia is grateful fo the help, but is concerned for her ‘father’ who was piloting the shuttle when it crashed. Secrets are revealed, Vesper’s Uncle gets involved, and danger suddenly springs up at every corner, and Vesper must figures out who to survive as well as continue her work to help save humanity.
“VESPER is an ambitious film, and does a good job creating a world that is reminiscent of our own, but sufficiently alien enough to be believable i this circumstances. The storyline is convoluted, as many science fiction stories are, but is not so difficult that the viewer will get lost. There may be one or two elements introduced that weren’t necessary, but they do build the story into even more than it seems to be at first. Finally, the everr-important humanity of the characters is present as well, but for some reason I can’t quite identify, is the weakest point of the film. It’s there in the story, and the acting is perfectly fine, but I found the emotional connection lacking, perhaps because the overall story was so busy. Still it is a strong effort for this Lithuanian/French writing/directing duo and creates a world that is worth exploration. 3 cats“
