It’s 2063 and Earth is dying, but finally a planet is found where our civilization can continue. A mission is set and those chosen to go on it are a crew of 30 kids created in a lab for the purpose of them never getting the chance to miss anything from the outside world. What they don’t know won’t kill them, right? But they won’t see this new planet where humanity will get a second chance. It’ll be their grandkids as this voyage is going to take over 80 years to reach its destination. Sheesh!
In writer-director Neil Burger’s Voyagers, a YA psychological space odyssey, it’s got big ideas on human nature and impulses but can’t efficiently execute them on screen to save its life. Likewise, there are way too many times the performances fall flat, killing whatever sort of suspense it’s already struggling to build. Tye Sheridan plays Christopher who’s full of curiosity when he finds a toxin in their on board irrigation system. With his best bud Zac (Fionn Whitehead), they get to the bottom of it by uncovering the blue liquid they drink after each meal is stifling any and every emotion one should feel.
So what happens if they stop drinking it? The answer is horny kids running wild on a spaceship. An overpowering awakening comes rushing through them with a newfound freedom in the feelings department. Christopher and Zac start to see and experience things differently, and that’s especially the case when it comes to Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) – their fellow team member and medical officer who they have the immediate hots for.
The first person to notice their radical change in behavior is their creator/teacher/father figure Richard (Colin Farrell). He knows more than what he lets on, but truly cares about his young team. In fact, he cares so much that he volunteered to go with them knowing full well there’s no coming back. Things go from bad to worse after an accident occurs (which may or may not have been caused by an evil alien force), leaving no one to keep the moppets from going mad as they wave bye-bye to the blue beverage for good.
This is about the time where Voyagers loses most, if not all, of its intrigue. It’s reduced to a ponderous power struggle between Christopher whose moral sense is still intact and Zac whose overcome with jealousy and rage. From there, Burger lets predictability and obligatory action take over. His paper thin characters also don’t have the strength to push this sci-fi thriller back on to a riveting trek. Voyagers cheats itself and us out of extensively exploring its provocative themes. Instead, it does its absolute best to avoid going where no man (or woman) has gone before.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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