Dark sci-fi thriller underappreciated in cinemas streaming on Netflix now

It's a must-watch for fans of the Alien franchise.

And if you saw those two movies in theatres and enjoyed them, there is a lesser-seen film from a few years ago that blends the pair: the 2017 sci-fi Life.

Streaming on Netflix now, Life is set in the near future. It revolves around a six-member crew of the International Space Station (ISS), who viewers are introduced to in zero gravity in a very thrilling opening action set-piece that lasts five minutes and is rendered in a single continuous shot.

These characters include Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson, Dune), a newly onboard Centres for Disease Control quarantine officer, Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal, Road House), a medical officer who has turned his back on Earth life after his traumatic military experiences, and Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds, the Deadpool trilogy), a fast-talking engineer.

Also on the ISS are Dr. Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare, Good Omens), an exobiologist and wheelchair user who loves life in space because he can move more freely in zero gravity, Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun), a Japanese system engineer and new father, and Ekaterina 'Kat' Golovkin (Olga Dihovichnaya), the station's Russian mission commander.

The six are in space to study soil samples from Mars, which contain a cell that proves the existence of extraterrestrial life.

The crew are initially thrilled by the organism - dubbed 'Calvin', after a primary school wins a competition to name the alien life (a cool world-building detail). In fact, Derry believes Calvin's genetic properties could be of great benefit to humanity, perhaps being able to give him and others like him the use of their legs.

It isn't long, however, before the cell grows and becomes hostile. The quickly evolving Calvin violently turns on the ISS crew, as they realise that the creature poses a massive threat to all life on Earth.

A career best for director Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money, Morbius, Safe House), Life was written by frequent Reynolds collaborators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who worked on all the Deadpool and Zombieland movies.

Not only are the pair of writers known for putting fun twists on pre-established formulas (Life is very much riffing on the Alien franchise), but they are also gifted at writing fast-paced rat-a-tat dialogue that sounds great coming out of Reynolds' mouth.

The early portion of Life makes great use of this, with Ferguson and Gyllenhaal giving very dramatic, serious, solemn performances and Reynolds to the side providing a fun comic energy.

What makes the Deadpool actor's casting a masterstroke, though, is that when proceedings start to go pear-shaped, the fast-talking shtick that Reynolds is best known for goes out the window - helping the viewer feel the true weight and terror of the situation.

An early example is when Adams angrily chastises Derry for being too careless with Calvin:

"Stop calling it fucking Calvin. We don't know what that thing is. Yeah? And you're in there and you're playing around with it like it's your buddy. I'm your buddy. You're drunk on this. Wake up."

Unfortunately for the characters in Life, Derry does not take Adams' advice to heart - with the terrifying ramifications playing out in a string of not overly violent, but taut and tactile action horror set-pieces.

Also, elevating Life above similar Alien riffs is that Reese and Wernick's screenplay has thematic depth and a point of view, albeit a very nihilistic one.

After all, it centres around these scientists probing this alien organism in the hopes of learning more about life itself.

As Derry explains early on: "Risks are taken for reasons. Because of Calvin, we're going to learn so much about life. Its origin, its nature, maybe even its meaning."

And the crew of the ISS do learn about life - that life is full of death and that often for one species to thrive, another must be destroyed.

In a moment of clarity, Derry later states about the alien life stalking him and his friends: "It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction. Calvin doesn't hate us. But he has to kill us in order to survive."

And to Reese and Wernick's credit, they follow this idea through to its logical, bitter end - delivering a brilliant gut-punch of an ending.

Life earned solid reviews from critics - though some criticised it as being derivative - and did okay business at the box office - though it failed to recoup double its reported $58 million budget.

This is a shame, as the movie is the type of adult-targeted, entertaining, well-crafted blockbuster based on no previous IP that should be heralded in this era of sequels and reboots.

Thankfully, though, Life is available to stream on Netflix. So, if you liked Alien: Romulus and you want to watch something with similar sci-fi horror vibes, the 2017 flick is well worth a look.

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