Finally, I caught a couple of very different sci-fi films at the fest. Let’s start with the bleak and end on a high note.
U Are the Universe (6/8)
In the seemingly not-too-far future, a lone, long-haul space trucker is almost out to the moons of Jupiter to dump some nuclear waste, when wayyy behind him in the Solar System, the inhabitants of Earth blow up the planet in one final global fight. It’s alarming, to say the least, to have the knowledge that you are probably the last human in the universe, with your only companion being an amiable onboard computer giving you dire updates on your survival. But Andriy’s (Volodymyr Kravchuk) aimless, dwindling days are suddenly interrupted by a message from one more lone astronaut, a French woman named Catherine on a space space that is losing power and will crash into Saturn within months. Even if both of their destinies are doomed, and the distance between them is almost impossible to overcome, you can’t blame Andriy for wanting to try to help Catherine. The film does a lot with its minimalist approach, and almost feels like a one-man play. But adding it’s own off-screen background tension is the fact that the filming was done in Kyiv, Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion. (This adds an extra level of gravitas to Andriy’s disbelief as he realizes his home is completely gone.) Without divulging spoilers, I have to add that the final moment of the film is particularly beautiful.
Time Travel is DangerousTime Travel is Dangerous (7/8)
But let’s end on more silly, positive note! This goofy British mockumentary was one of my favorites of the fests, and I’ll bet it played great to a crowd. As it was, I was snorting and guffawing watching the screener on my couch. Longtime pals Megan and Ruth own a vintage shop in London but are having a hard time paying rent to their annoying and relentless landlord. It’s getting it harder and harder finding vintage goods to sell (dumpster diving scores only so much) and the friends are finding themselves struggling to keep the shop afloat. That is until they discover a time machine that allows them to go back, grab cool, mint goods right from the era, and bring them back to sell to eager shoppers! But the more they use the time machine, the more unstable that the rift between (yes) the time/space continuum becomes. When Megan gets stuck in the rift, Ruth has to enlist the local science hobby club (and inventor the the time machine) to rescue her. This low-budget, low-tech charmer is completely silly and has that awkward, deadpan humor that I always find delightful. The ensemble (most of whom I didn’t recognize) is terrific, and it’s easy to love a time machine device that is a modified vintage bumper car. I can see this film becoming a cult favorite.
