Movie Review – I.S.S.
Principal Cast : Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr, Masha Mashkova, Costa Ronin, Pilou Asbæk.
Synopsis: Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling, the U.S. and Russian astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.
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As we sit here in the early months of 2025, a film like ISS, with its baseline Russo-American tensions, is emblematic of modern geopolitics. That’s not to say ISS is as steeped in firebrand cultural angst as it might like us to believe, but the undercurrent of global tension threaded through the film’s single-location premise remains evocatively positioned to maximise the sense of real jeopardy in play with Nick Shafir’s screenplay. Some of the more preposterous elements of ISS‘s character work succumb to thriller tropes and a general “dumbness” of proposition, but on the whole, there’s very much a Gravity meets Apollo 13 meets Oxygen feel supporting the indelicate writing. ISS isn’t particularly compelling beyond the stuck-in-space survivalist elements, but lead Ariana DeBose (Oscar winner for Supporting Actress in West Side Story) makes for a solid protagonist despite the general confusion reigning here.
Plot synopsis courtesy IMDb: Set aboard the International Space Station during rising global tensions, the story follows a crew of American and Russian astronauts who receive chilling orders from their respective governments: take control of the station at any cost. American scientist Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) is the newest crew member, struggling to find her footing among the seasoned astronauts, including U.S. commander Gordon Barrett (John Gallagher Jr.) and Russian cosmonaut Weronika Vetrov (Masha Mashkova). As the world below descends into chaos, trust within the station disintegrates, forcing Kira and her crewmates into a deadly game of survival where allegiances blur and morality is tested in the ultimate high-stakes standoff.
The elevator pitch for ISS is an engaging one: a group of Russian and American astronauts have their allegiances tested when global thermonuclear war breaks out back on Earth, leading to escalating tensions aboard the International Space Station. How simple is that? It has all the ingredients for a great potential thriller, examining geopolitics thousands of miles above the ground. Well, it would—if ISS were actually worthy of the potential it squanders with this taut but weirdly filmed escapade. While it hinges on DeBose’s strong performance as Kira Foster, it suffers from significant believability issues (it takes exactly three whole minutes for a group of highly intelligent scientists to become homicidal maniacs). ISS is great at setup but lousy at paying off the emotional weight of its decisions. The onset of the conflict is terrifyingly delivered via a bird’s-eye view of numerous nuclear blasts on the surface, but Shafir’s script hedges its bets with predictable plot twists and character beats that… I don’t know… feel off somehow.
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite clumsily delivers claustrophobic tension between her small ensemble cast, which includes a manic, bug-eyed turn from Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) as DeBose’s Russian opposite, Alexey. However, she struggles to establish the scientists’ inherent camaraderie early on. Without achieving this connection, the inevitable fracturing of the ensemble doesn’t quite click, leaving the film’s latter half to limp towards an inevitably downbeat conclusion. Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Masha Mashkova, and Costa Ronin round out the small cast with variously generic character types, forcing Cowperthwaite to rely more on situational tension than genuine humanistic drama to carry the film’s themes. Then again, expecting ISS to disentangle a century of problematic Russian-American relations within a tight 90-minute runtime is setting the bar a little high. If you manage your expectations on that front, it works well enough as a slight, if weirdly photographed, space thriller.
ISS is an interesting film that never quite rises to the challenge of its premise. Not that it doesn’t try, but Cowperthwaite’s restrained and sometimes baffling editorial choices—not to mention Nick Remy Matthews’ strangely fuzzy cinematography—feel insufficient to generate the required amount of tension a film like this deserves. I’m loath to criticise specific artistic choices, but shooting the film in an anamorphic scope aspect ratio rather than a more confined 1.85:1 frame (which would better complement the constricted working environment aboard the ISS) felt like film-school hubris. It’s one of several strange choices that detract rather than enhance what could have been a white-knuckle ride. I had hoped to be engrossed by ISS‘s simple but effective plot hook, and I was really rooting for Ariana DeBose’s performance given her breakout role in Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. Unfortunately, she’s saddled with a character I couldn’t connect with, alongside a bunch of nameless secondary characters whose only purpose is to go slowly, maniacally, and murderously mad. By the end, I was left disappointed. ISS does not deliver what its trailer promises, and for a film about a space station, it never really takes off.
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