I.S.S. (Tribeca 2023) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

For most of its roughly 90 minutes, the sci-fi thriller I.S.S. creates a meaty, suspenseful story, exploring not aliens from other worlds but the monsters of distrust within ourselves.

The title is an acronym for the International Space Station, a real-life research facility orbiting the Earth where astronauts collaborate on research involving physics, astrobiology, and other disciplines. The station typically has a crew of seven and involves five space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and Europe.

The film I.S.S. shortens the crew by one and staffs the station with three astronauts each from the United States and Russia, the better to exacerbate how a conflict on Earth complicates matters in space.

Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) plays Kira, an American biological engineer new to the station. She arrives with Christian (John Gallagher Jr., Gone in the Night), a father of two daughters who is an old hand up here, quickly introducing her to the third American, Gordon (Chris Messina, The Boogeyman), and their Russian colleagues.

After Kira settles in, the crewmates eagerly show off their view of Earth, looking every bit as precious and magnificent as we might imagine. Cosmonaut Nika (Masha Mashkova) says some people see this and have a spiritual awakening.

“You forget everything that happens down there when you can see the beauty from up here,” adds her colleague Alexey (Pilou Asbaek, Uncharted).

That sentiment is soon tested when Kira sees bright bursts erupt on the world below the next morning. She at first thinks it’s a volcanic eruption, but more reddish-yellow pops appear, and then cosmonaut Nicholai (Costa Ronin, The Endgame) and Gordon each get unsettling news: An act of war has occurred between their countries, and the space station is considered an asset.

They’re to take control of it by any means necessary.

Within moments, there’s an additional problem: no communication with mission control, and no way to recharge the station’s boosters. Without that, the station will fall out of the sky.

So begins a tentative dance as each side presumes the other has the same orders. As they work to stay aloft, some start watching their backs while others argue about who can be trusted.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (The Grab), cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews (Furia), production designer Geoff Wallace, and the visual effects crew believably create the sense of these people living in zero gravity.

DeBose gets top billing, but this is truly an ensemble piece. The actors generate decent rapport in the first act, which interestingly gives way to many trusting Kira the most because she’s a newcomer; they’re too familiar with the others’ personalities and flaws.

Messina is patient and compassionate while Gallagher is squirrely, eager to get home to his family. DeBose, Mashkova and Asbaek are especially good at portraying how conflicted they feel, sizing up their compatriots along with the others.

The script by Nick Shafir, making his feature debut, builds tension throughout until the ending, which aims for ambiguity but unfortunately feels like the film ran out of ideas. Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, and I would have loved to have this stick the landing better.

That said, I.S.S. is a decent contained thriller with a fresh take on how even in space, some are all too human.