Slingshot, 2024.
Directed by Mikael Håfström.
Starring Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham, Tomer Capone, David Morrissey, Nikolett Barabas, Charlotta Lövgren, Mark Ebulue, and Harry Szovik.
SYNOPSIS:
An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality aboard a possibly fatally compromised mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan.
On the surface, Mikael Håfström’s Slingshot is about a space mission to Saturn’s moon containing methane, which can be collected and used for a healthier Earth. None of that actually matters, as this is more of a setup for psychological games that not only revel in clichés but come in so much quantity that they instantly telegraph themselves from one to the next. The result is less having fun with the insanity and more laughing at it for falling in line to the next predictable swerve.
The script from R. Scott Adams and Nathan Parker immediately reveals Casey Affleck’s astronaut John as an unreliable perspective for this story, emerging from a hibernation pod aboard a spaceship with an automated voice reminding him of the symptoms. The primary one to pay attention to here is confusion. This is a character device relied on to such an annoying effect that it mostly feels like cheating. Beyond a certain point, there is no reason to take anything we see here seriously; it’s all face-value BS, and our brains are hardwired into not believing any of it or assuming the opposite.
Working with Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne giving a stern and stellar performance that is unquestionably the best aspect of the movie) and a data/technological specialist named Nash (Tomer Capone, frequently overplaying his increasing paranoia that develops), their strategy to get near Saturn is to attempt a slingshot boost maneuver from Jupiter. The reasoning behind this is never explained, but presumably, it simply concerns Saturn being farther away from Earth. The details, or lack thereof, are the least of this film’s problems, and the title mostly feels like a metaphor for what it’s trying and failing to do to the audience with its mind games.
It turns out that during one of the hibernation phases, the spacecraft collided with an unidentified object and suffered some structural damage that technically could be fatal. Contradicting this, the computer systems still report that everything is intact and safe. However, the crew loses communications with mission overseers back in Houston.
From there, a difference of opinion breaks out with John (played with despondency and disorientation by Casey Affleck, which sometimes is taken too far and doesn’t feel right for the role) caught up in the middle of Nash, essentially encouraging a mutiny, paranoid that the ship is not stable enough to sustain a boost at such a speed, covering an extraordinary amount of distance between planets within minutes. Meanwhile, Captain Franks has the standard cold “complete the mission at any cost” tone. This film also wants viewers to know there is something else off about Captain Franks based on his behavior, which includes occasionally singing the lyrics “Please don’t let me be misunderstood.” As a result, much of the film becomes a waiting game for the first major twist to drop. It interjects a nightmare sequence and a body mutation hallucination bit, both feeling out of place and desperate attempts at keeping up engagement.
John also regularly hallucinates seeing his NASA program love interest, Zoe (Emily Beecham), on the ship, which the filmmakers use as opportunities to toss viewers into flashbacks depicting how they became close, various aspects of John’s backstory, and the one-sided nature of the relationship. He is infatuated with Zoe, upfront that his work will always come first, and seemingly closed off from relationship commitment and reciprocating love.
It is undeniably clear that through all of the psychological mind games, Slingshot wants to say something about paranoia and anxiety not only concerning the mission but also what we project onto others regarding how they see us. There are also questions of duty and when it’s time to prioritize safety and, even more courageously, standing up to a shortsighted leader who could get everyone killed.
However, that is all artificial; the narrative gets lost in that series of twists without the self-awareness that Slingshot has long stopped feeling suspenseful. There are moments of intended clever dark humor, paling in comparison to the amount of unintentional hilarity. Put it this way: it’s practically impossible not to see the final rug-pull coming right before it happens. The anticipation is there for the wrong reasons; it elicits snickering.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
