Movie reviews

ТИ - КОСМОС (U ARE THE UNIVERSE)

Recommended. The first twist comes already about 9 minutes into the movie. Next one in the 27th minute. There are two more twists in the final half hour of this 1-hour 40-minute-long picture. So, even though it's set in and around a spaceship, it maintains decent suspense. Still, what glued me to the screen even more, was the wider context. This Ukrainian wartime production deals with profound current issues: what it's like to lose everything and everyone suddenly and have nowhere to go back to as well as disinformation. Yet for the most part the film is light due to characteristic for Ukrainians irony, just like in "Мої думки тихі" ("My Thoughts Are Silent") or "Герой мого часу" ("Hero of My Time"). I loved how the job problem amusingly puts our daily concerns into perspective. At some point you get a "2001: A Space Odyssey" mockery but later its trope reoccurs in a serious manner in the dramatic finale. The set design is spot on. Budget-made but solid space opera. Much thought-provoking and smart.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.