'Pandorum' Will Leave You Guessing Until the End in 2009 Science Fiction Thriller

So Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead is not indestructible in the face of zombies or the zombie-like. This Daryl lasts fewer than two minutes in this 2009 science fiction movie and lunch meat for even less than that. But the small screen mystique quickly falling prey, Pandorum dishes an intergalactic mystery inside a species ending cataclysm. Once onboard, that will keep you guessing and drop your jaw as the story finally unfolds.

Earth population long exploding into the 22nd Century, the planet has reached a boiling point, according to the the film’s opening introduction. The Starship Elysium thus embarks for Tanis to begin the first stage of resettlement. In tow, are thousands of new world inhabitants in deep stasis sleep compartments.

The End of the World on Their End

En route, the flight crew on duty gets the bad news. “You are all that is left,” word is received of Earth’s complete destruction.

Surreptitiously, Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) emerges from his deep sleep. Any official greeting or expected amenities are completely absent. He is alone and affected by partial amnesia.

At a loss, he is soon joined by Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) and adding to the absence of a crew, the ship is suffering power surges, and the bridge cannot be accessed. This has Bower is off through a ventilation duct to get the reactor back online so the ship can warp in the right direction and get humanity off on a new foot.

On the way, Bower exhibits a minor attack of Pandorum, which is a psychological affliction brought on by deep space travel and a traumatic event. The most famous case involved a commander who jettisoned his entire crew into the vast reaches of space because he thought the mission was cursed.

There Be Zombies and Mystery

Persisting, Bower comes across a fellow crewman strung up by his neck and subsequently gets leveled by a female crewman whose pretty good with a blade. Then the real chase is on, and the zombie-like are in hot pursuit of the lone astronaut.

Go figure.

Where did they come from, where is the crew on duty, how come the intergalactic mission went off the rails and why is this hot chick hitting Bower with such a large, menacing stick? No choice for Bower but to settle for the cryptic situation, we meet a longer awakened crewman who siphons runners off into his enclosing and satisfies his biting hunger on their flight.

Yes, he eats them. So showing plenty of wear, Leland’s dementia positions him as the ship’s unofficial sage - the retelling laying somewhere between fact and folklore.

Staying out of his pot and as more answers slowly come, an ensign Gallo suffering from full on Pandora emerges upon Lt. Payton. No major leap is required to assume that the news of a decimated Earth likely served as both his inciting incident and that of the doomed crew and mission.

Closure for the Crew and Planet Earth

Regardless, the action proceeds in similarAlienfashion as the race for life awaits at the top (or bottom) of the ship with the stalled nuclear reactor. Easy enough to overlook with the biting action and the stifling mystery, there still seems to be little at stake if only several people are left to reach Tanis and repopulate humanity on this far away world.

That’s ok, you still want to know what wrought all this, and Adam and Eve ain’t nothin. This especially when Hollywood has a say in a new start.

Of course, forces are finally joined, and the mystery definitely does not suffer the ambiguity of infinity and beyond. The mission also ends in certainty so jettison any doubt and open wide.