Review of Life (2017) by Faz H — 06 Apr 2017

Is it really sci fi, or contemporary drama? Deceptively plain, this grabs unapologetically onto Alien and leapfrogs into how the average people of today would deal with an invasion - not centuries from now.

Why not? Cinema uses classic themes, Alien is a classic, and this is not just a copy. It poses a fair question, since we are busy with martian soil, and sending hello signals into deep space. Here, the creature is not the star - while intelligent, it's got no personality, and looks like something you may find washed up on the beach.

It's about the snafus and naiveté that allow it to get in. While you wait for the inevitable, there are well-known aggravations - software/hardware fails, uncertainty, information gaps, a dreary work environment, too-fast changes, bad management decisions, and the situation of young adults barely equipped to face vast problems.

Having let Alien do the basic fantasy work, this show gets quietly to the darker problem of whether we are fooling ourselves. There are non-sequitors - are they accidental or poetic? how did it get from the other compartment into the man's suit? The characters are fragile: there is no Ripley, and it's an ensemble piece more than a star vehicle.

Still, Gyllenhaal's trademark internal shadow is the perfect negative to the warm and earthy crew - reminiscent of the cyborg in Alien, except that this character is a real and present-day man, and able to haunt you.

Having got you to relate to alien infestation on the tedious workplace level, like the frustration when your IT is out, the discomfort leaves the cinema with you. This is not an easy or standard show but more like cult potential.

The ending takes it all to the limit, including one of the best screen screams ever. Maybe, our luck will hold out.