Theater-goers have been blessed with some good-to-great “original” space movies (i.e. not Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy, although those are also good!) in recent memory, including Gravity, Interstellar, and First Man, which isn’t getting nearly enough Oscar buzz. Based on the first trailer, High Life looks like it will be joining that list. The English-language debut from French filmmaker Claire Denis (Trouble Every Day, Beau Travail) stars Robert Pattinson, as a criminal (and father!) aboard a spaceship traveling to a black hole, and Juliette Binoche, with a supporting performance from the always-welcome Mia Goth.
Early reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival, which were largely positive (no surprise there, considering it comes from A24, the same home as Moonlight, Lady Bird, and Ex Machina), called High Life “mesmerizing” and a “masterfully mystifying event-horizon nightmare,” and praised Pattinson’s performance. Critics were also fond of the movie’s “f*ck box.” Even TIFF got in on the f*ck, I mean, fun. Here’s the official plot synopsis.
Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to the outer reaches of the solar system. The crew — death-row inmates led by a doctor (Juliette Binoche) with sinister motives — has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole.
High Life, which also stars André 3000, opens on April 12.
