Slingshot (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality aboard a possibly fatally compromised mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan.

My Take – We have witnessed countless films that examine the potential challenges of space travel. Particularly based on the isolation in the cold and dark void of outer space and the toll it takes on the human psyche considering the thousands of miles distance from Earth.

Although few have done it better than director Duncan Jones’ Moon (2009).

This familiar themes and ideas are once again explored in this latest from Mikael Håfström (1408, Escape Plan) who directs from a screenplay written by R. Scott Adams and Moon writer Nathan Parker. Playing as both an intimate, low-key riff on Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), and a variation of James Gray’s Ad Astra (2019), ultimately it is neither of those excellent features.

Mainly as it opts for lots of narrative red herrings and plot twists instead of celestial wonders or emotional climaxes. Resulting in a redundant and predictable science fiction psychological thriller.

Sure, tropes and clichés are a necessary part of genre filmmaking, but this one fails to bring anything new or use them in interesting ways.

Yes, it is far from a failure, but its ambitions to keep audiences guessing are ultimately a detriment to its story. As, it’s mostly unsuccessful at being surprising, and forecasts the bulk of its twists and turns far in advance. But while there are a handful of intriguing ideas presented, especially near the film’s climax, they are ultimately restrained by a poorly executed delivery.

The story follows John (Casey Affleck), an ambitious pilot who made it through a rigorous selection process for a dangerous space mission to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. One that’s to be reached via a gravitational slingshot effect around Jupiter that will propel the craft to its destination at an accelerated speed. Still, the journey is a lengthy one, requiring Jack and his crew mates, Nash (Tomer Capone) and Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne), to be placed in a drug-induced hibernation for vast stretches of the trip.

Leaving them fraught with strange dreams and hallucinations like the appearance of Zoe (Emily Beechan), one of the designers of the cutting-edge spacecraft and Jack’s former lover, on the ship. However, when the spacecraft is mysteriously damaged it places the completion of the mission in jeopardy, as the psychological stability of the crew gets even more affected.

Despite the potential of an intriguing premise, sadly, the psychological character study ends up being a slog to get through. We watch the three astronauts lose their grips on reality and their behavior becomes more and more erratic, but the impact of their psychosis never quite lands.

The film plays with reality so much that you really can’t grab on to anything. Here, director Håfström struggles to commit to any one idea of what is happening and you are left with a sloppy mess of bungled plots and seemingly no central idea.

The desire to know what’s real and what’s not sustains enough mild interest to keep us engaged, but the continual flashbacks to a syrupy and unconvincing romance, in which John and Zoe lie on the floor talking about moths, have a devastating effect on the momentum.

I get it, the flashbacks are used primarily to expand on the relationship and the feeling of desperation caused by their separation is the primary factor in John’s struggles with reality. But it ends up adding to nothing we haven’t seen before.

Performance wise, Laurence Fishburne is a standout. His commanding presence alone elevates the most poorly written material. He never seems to fully commit to the role here, but still remains the highlight of the film. Casey Affleck sleepwalks through the role bringing his usual nonchalance attitude to the proceedings. However, he does manage to shine in the film’s third act when he’s unrestrained.

Emily Beecham is terrific, but is saddled with a dismal role. Tomer Capone is a solid even if he characters isn’t given ample room to exist outside John’s interior conflicts. On the whole, ‘Slingshot’ is a serviceable space thriller that is bogged down by its predictability and unconvincing execution.