EUROPA REPORT

Stars: Daniel Wu, Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Anamaria Marinca, Karolina Wydra and Embeth Davidtz.
Writer: Philip Gelatt.
Director: Sebastian Cordero.

Rating: 4/5

Director Sebastian Cordeo applies a skilfully refined element to the found-footage tropes he works through in the space-exploration thriller, Europa Report. While it is true we’ve seen a lot of this kind of stuff before (notably, in the year’s biggest film Gravity, but also dross like Apollo 18), the Ecuadorian genre auteur nails his visuals, dramatics and practical elements with a striking degree of acuity.

Fans of the sci-fi genre could rattle off a dozen examples of the old ‘rag-tag crew of deep space explorer’s stumble across more than they bargained for’ plot that Cordero and his scriptwriter Philip Gelatt employ (ready? Go! Forbidden Planet, Alien, 2001 A Space Odyssey…and so on). But there is an earthbound integrity and deeply respectful approach to the science in Europa Report that imbues the story with a gritty intensity, lifting it beyond its B-movie framework.

Audiences learn early on that things haven’t gone well for the crew, sent to Jupiter’s fourth largest moon to draw samples of surface and subterannean matter. The mission overseer, Dr Samantha Unger (Embeth Davidtz), recounts directly to camera the early days of the project and the excitement everyone felt for this next great leap for mankind. Aboard the craft is an international crew, led by Capt William Xu (action star Daniel Wu), first mate Rosa Dasque (Romanian Anamaria Marinca), engineer Andrei (The Girl With The Dragon Tatto’s Michael Nyqvist) and rogue-ish astronaut Corrigan (District 9’s Sharlto Copley); given evidence suggests Europa has thick ice and potential for aquatic-based life forms, two Russian marine biologists are taken – Dr Daniel Luxembourg (Christian Camargo) and Dr Katya Petrovna (Karolina Wydra).

With Dr Unger popping up occasionally to put the events caught by on-board CCTV in chronological and emotional perspective, Cordero sets about cutting together (with his team of four credited editors) the final hours of the mission and the individual fates of all on board. Tension is built and maintained throughout, as the crew faces such superbly-staged setbacks as a colleague lost to the far reaches of space; the first glimpses of what may be bio-luminescent life; a failed rocket flight; and, the final reveal as to what has been going bump in the Jupiter night all along.

Gelatt achieves that essential character balance chemistry amongst all the crew, with everyone particularly natural and believeable in their roles (first amongst equals are Wu, Nyqvist and Wydra). Digital footage as captured by the various sources (mission-record sensors, helmet-cams, handheld devices) did not faze cinematographer Enrique Chediak, whose crisp images and mastery of both tight, shiny space and the vastness of the universe are beautiful; barely a frame of Europa Report belies the fact that it was a relatively low-budget work. Cordero’s feature-length English-language debut is terrific entertainment.

Europa Report screens Sunday, November 17 and Saturday, November 23 at the Brisbane International Film Festival. Times and ticket information can be found on the festival's website.