Movie Review: 'I.S.S' is the First Great Movie of 2024

I.S.S (2024)

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Written by Nick Shafir

Starring Ariana Debose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin

Release Date January 19th, 2024

Published January 8th, 2024

I.S.S is a terrific and timely thriller. Set aboard the International Space Station, the story follows a rookie astronaut, played by Ariana Debose, as she joins her first space mission. She's supposed to spend the next six months studying lab rats and seeking cures or treatments for disease. What she gets unfortunately is a day or so of acclimating to her strange new home before something on the ground, an international incident involving the United States and Russia, throws her mission into chaos and threatens the lives of everyone on board the I.S.S

Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana Debose) has worked her whole career toward going to space. When we meet her, her dream is coming true. Foster and Dr. Christian (John Gallagher Jr.) are aboard the Soyuz Space Capsule on their way to the I.S.S. On the space station, they are welcomed by fellow American, Gordon Barrett and the three person Russian crew, Alexey (Pilou Asbaek), Nika (Maria Mashkova), and Nicolai (Costa Ronin). The atmosphere is mostly congenial, though issues of workspace do cause a bit of tension between Kira and Alexey who must work in close quarters.

The plot kicks in when communication from the station to the ground gets cut off. The internet is down and, as the crew is observing the Earth, they see what appear to be large scale explosions. When communication is restored between the station and Earth, the Americans and the Russians are each advised to take control of the space station, by any means necessary. This leads to a series of ever escalating encounters as each side tries to decide whether they are getting accurate information from the ground and whether or not they are capable of attacking people they have considered their friends and colleagues until now.

I.S.S is a thrill ride. Directed by documentarian turned feature director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the film keeps amping up the tension in scene after scene all while creating a surprisingly realistic recreation of the famed International Space Station on a relatively modest budget. Cowperthwaite's direction is assured and confident with a masterful control of the tension and suspense. The cinematography by Nick Remy Matthews is superb and the camerawork underlines the growing tension of the plot perfectly.

Ariana Debose is exactly the right star for I.S.S. Her excitement and nervous energy early in the story are matched by her growing desperation and courage as the thriller story begins to unfold. She has a terrific match in Pilou Asbaek, a fellow scientist with whom she has tension early on. The two don't have any kind of romantic plot, rather they have a different kind of bond that gets tested as things grow more and more frightening aboard the I.S.S. Even the bonds of nationality may not be enough to unite everyone aboard the I.S.S but you will need to see that play out for yourself.

There is a sequence set outside of the I.S.S, on a spacewalk involving Chris Messina's character, Gordon, that is one of my favorite thriller sequences in a long time. Messina and Debose are on two sides of this scene, him working on the ship, her on communications inside the station and all of it unfolding as the Russians and Americans are trying to determine whether or not they are at war and are thus on opposite sides of a potential World War. It's a killer sequence, cut perfectly, filled with intrigue and suspense and culminates with a terrific shocker. It's a must see.

But really, everything about I.S.S is must see. The cast is terrific, the action is exceptional, and the storytelling is a breathtaking mix of thrilling suspense and a strong character dynamic. Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a terrific director. Whether working on a documentary like Blackfish or working on a thriller like this one, she never loses sight of the kind of human story that we all can relate to. Human stories that make bigger, broader narratives like that at play in I.S.S hit home just a little harder. She makes sure we care about these characters before throwing them into a terrifyingly tense situation. It's simple but effective thriller storytelling and it makes I.S.S an early highlight of 2024.

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