It took me two years to see Prospect. This obscure sci-fi thriller was playing in “normal” theaters at HIFF 2018. I snuck in between festival films and caught the first 45 minutes, twice. Never caught the ending until this week. Was it worth it? Ummmm … maybe?
So this is your average take-your-daughter to space tale. Damon (Jay Duplass) is just a space trekking dad travelling with his teenage daughter, Cee (Sophie Thatcher). The realism kicks in early on – so many space movies have a sanitized look as if the equipment has never been used by anyone. The Damon/Cee ship looks more like the waiting room for a popular ride at an amusement park. It’s sorta clean, I guess, but it definitely has been lived in. As are their space suits; how much mileage have they seen?
Damon is an opportunist and has landed on some sort of Endor forest planet to collect these weird space plant pearl things. There’s an art to it; if you don’t puncture the Alien egg-sac just right, the inner acid dissolves the treasure. Dad and kid make a decent haul, but that ain’t good enough … and this is where the trouble begins. The biggest plot point in the film happens early on and I hate to give it away, but this film becomes very different in a hurry.
At this point in the narrative, Ezra (Pedro Pascal … say, if you want to see what “The Mandalorian” looks like underneath the helmet, folks …) shows up. Ezra is the major player for the rest of the film. Ezra 
has an uneasy way of being a bad guy and good guy at the same time, which is darn confusing for teenage Cee who is probably better than Ezra. And watching semi-groomed Ezra tromp around Endor in a second-hand space suit cutting open goo pods to obtain the creamy goodness inside makes for a mildly challenging experience. I mean, it works reality-wise, but does it work because it works or because there was no budget for sets or costumes.
Was this film worth a two year-wait? No, not really. I thought Act III was a bit of a letdown. But that shouldn’t detract from good performances from Sophie Thatcher and Pedro Pascal, nor the uneasy relationship they’re forced to develop. There was enough there to make me long for resolution … but not enough for me to be satisfied for that resolution. Hence don’t go out of your way, but there are far, far worse space epics.
A duo mining for their survival shares
With a space ship in need of repairs
Is stuck on planet “Endor”
With many a rival vendor
At least the film lacked for silly bears
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Christopher Caldwell, Zeek Earl
Writer: Christopher Caldwell, Zeek Earl
Genre: The one where you put a Shakespearean tragedy in a space suit
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The marooned
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: the kind of people who root for the corporation in Aliens
