Friend or Foe
PRAISE: Giving this film a great foundation to work with and build on in a story about Tensions flaring in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth was one of the great ideas the movie comes up with. The cast including Chris Messina, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, and Tony winner John Gallagher, Jr. as the American crew, and Masha Mashkova (“For All Mankind”), Costa Ronin (“The Americans”), and Pilou Asbæk (“Game of Thrones”) as the Russian crew all do well in their roles, displaying tension, anger and frustration. Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite does so well blending tension, panic and suspense, it's not only in the characters faces but the remote setting itself with the quiet coldness of space and the confined spaces within the space station. The film plays with the word trust that sets things off balance just enough to keep the suspense alive. With a backdrop of an ever changing Earth it adds to the films tension and suspense. There is a haunting feel to the whole film especially when things really get going.
PROBLEMS: Due to its ninety minute run time there is not much character development and this definitely would have made me feel more for the characters. I did question something that happens in the films last thirty minutes. I sat there trying to make sense of it but in the end I concluded it just didn't fit into what a character did.
Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½