A space horror film that subverted expectations by killing off its most charismatic star.
In short: Director Daniel Espinosa designed the 2017 sci-fi thriller Life to blend space exploration with the dark, cynical tropes of film noir. By intentionally killing off his most recognizable lead early, he aimed to mirror the shocking narrative structure of Psycho, ultimately delivering a bleak, claustrophobic experience set aboard the International Space Station.
The film follows a six-member crew on the International Space Station who discover a rapidly evolving extraterrestrial organism from Mars, nicknamed Calvin. As the creature grows in intelligence and lethality, it systematically picks off the crew members. The production, which began development in November 2015, utilized wire-work to simulate zero-gravity environments and featured an eight-minute opening long take designed to emphasize the claustrophobia of space rather than its vastness.
Espinosa drew inspiration from noir conventions, specifically aiming for a downer ending that defied traditional blockbuster optimism. The film’s score, composed by Jon Ekstrand, was crafted to evoke the atonal horror of Bernard Herrmann while subtly nodding to the cinematic history of space travel. Despite its polished visual effects and suspenseful pacing, the film faced criticism for its derivative nature, with many reviewers comparing it unfavorably to classics like Alien and Gravity.
The film’s marketing sparked unusual fan theories, largely due to the inclusion of recycled stock footage from Spider-Man 3 in a trailer. This led to speculation that Life was a secret origin story for the symbiote Venom, a rumor fueled by the fact that screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had previously penned a Venom script. While the film received mixed reviews, it grossed $100.5 million worldwide against a $58 million budget, serving as a tense, if familiar, addition to the trapped-in-space genre.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Life (2017 film)
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