I was intrigued to see Prospect (2018) but it was my friend Adam Trainer’s recommendation that eventually made me select it from the Netflix menu. A low-budget science-fiction movie, Prospect initially focuses on a father and daughter duo (played by Jay Duplass and Sophie Thatcher respectively) who are prospectors for a rare, valuable commodity – gems carefully extracted from an alien life form. Landing on a planet with green, lush forrests and poisonous spores in the air, there’s the promise of a queen’s lair thanks to a deal struck with the mercenaries who discovered it. Yet the helmeted duo come across an untrustworthy smuggler (played by Pedro Pascal) and when their situation is irreversibly changed, the daughter must struggle alone and negotiate anew in order to get back to the orbiting space station to escape from this alien place. There are lots of original, memorable details throughout the movie, a lot of tactical and lo-fi special effects that feel lived in and old-school (similar to the first Alien movie). The audience’s investment in this world is constructed through lingo and equipment that are not explained initially; we have to figure it out slowly ourselves. The western vibe of the story is also reinforced by the dialogue, which often flirts with the pronounced, ole-timey metre of a Deadwood script. It’s a tense narrative that is balanced by decent character shading, and the performances, particularly Thatcher and Pascal are great. Prospect is a small story but I cared more about the characters and the situation than bigger epics like The Martian or Interstellar (maybe not the best comparisons in any case). Directed by Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell with a good score by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. Recommended.
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