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Stowaway Movie Review

Stowaway is a 2021 science fiction thriller film directed by Joe Penna and starring Toni Collette and Anna Kendrick. It’s a problematically written, but solid genre feature from Netflix.

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“What are we gonna do,

ask him to walk out of the airlock?“

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A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board. The premise itself in terms of psychology worked, but the details surrounding it were too scarce that I continued to wonder what was going on and why nobody would properly interrogate this stowaway man. We never learn anything about his arrival to that state on the ship nor do we get proper examination of his motifs and backstory.

Where the movie fares much better is in the psychological aspects as the main conflict was very well utilized for maximum tension. They only have enough oxygen for three people, so they argue about it, but then decide to try their best to save Michael despite all odds. What was very different and admirable here is the film’s very positive spin on the usual ethical drama on spaceship storyline. They do argue and they do have their qualms about saving him, but eventually they set out to do it. That collaboration and humanity was wonderful to witness as the film proposed that these values are necessary for all future manned space travel.

The third act was also quite intense. The thriller elements worked splendidly and the whole mission to get the oxygen tanks was reasonably well detailed and quite thrilling. The solar storm added a lot of further suspense. All of this was great, but the ending itself left a sour taste in my mouth. Never at all did I understand why Zoe of all people had to sacrifice herself, and that entire conclusion felt abrupt and even unreasonable. The movie really needed a better ending.

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Anna Kendrick has never been a science fiction movie before, so she pleasantly surprised me how strong and memorable she was here. Her arc is the best one and her humanity was very inspiring to witness. She is the heart and soul of the film and the first moments where we see her high energy and wonder at space was quite endearing.

Toni Collette is reliably terrific and she sold her emotional scenes. She plays a commander who tries to be level-headed and calculated, but she cares a lot behind that façade. Daniel Dae Kim himself was quite good in the role of a calm, but reasonable botanist. The scenes between him and Zoe were the most entertaining in the movie. As for Shamier Anderson, he did the best that he could with such a thin, underwritten role.

Stowaway is a Netflix original that does stall in certain scenes in the mid section, but the special effects are mostly quite satisfactory and surprisingly strong coming from the streaming service. The shots of Earth were splendid and the action scenes were beautifully executed and suspenseful throughout. The dialogue is also quite good and the characterization is mostly very strong. The direction is solid at first, but eventually crumbling a bit as did the whole movie. They really needed to introduce a better finale or another idea altogether to finish the film properly.

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