Neil Burger is a flashy filmmaker who has earned a bit of good will with the genuinely-good The Illusionist and the better-than-you-expected Limitless earlier in his career. In his latest feature Voyagers, he returns the young-adult dystopian genre that he played with in Divergent, only this time to much less success. This “original” idea from Burger takes a grab bag of sci-fi tropes and lifts the basic plot of Lord of the Flies and dials up the horniness to eleven.
The setup for the film is actually pretty compelling as in the opening minutes you learn that Earth is heading towards a complete extinction event due to our handling of the environment. In order to continue the species, the scientists have decided to create a fleet of genetically modified children who will be raised to go on a mission to the only planet that seems feasible for sustaining life. The only problem is that the trip will take 86 years to reach the planet, so the grandchildren of these kids will be our main hope for continuing human life. These kids have been raised in isolation and are a virtual blank-slate to the human experience. The intention is to have this crew of youngsters clinically repopulate when the right time comes during their mission, but that plans go awry once they get a taste of unfiltered human emotion.
A miscast Colin Farrell (In Bruges) plays Richard, a scientist and the lone important adult in the story who fights to accompany these kids on their mission in order to protect and care for them. Farrell is capable of showing a more vulnerable side, but he never feels completely believable as this sad figure who wants the best for these kids. Although, it would be difficult for anyone to conjure up a lot of energy if they were stuck with 30 pre-adolescent young people for years upon end. The powers that be have decided that in order for this mission to work, the crew of the spaceship Humanitas are served a daily “blue drink” filled with medication to keep impulse control in line. This works for a while until semi-virtuous Christopher (Tye Sheridan, Ready Player One) and the semi-malevolent Zac (Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk) discover what exactly the drink entails and decide they would like to feel more “good” not less. A tiny rebellion against the medication quickly evolves into total collapse of morality because hormones are rough.
While this premise of docile teens suddenly having a flip switched to full unadulterated id is scarier than most horror films, the film never does enough with it to do it justice. As is, the story can be very uncomfortable, but it never goes to the hard-R places that you know directors like Gaspar Noé or Paul Verhoeven would have made a meal of if given the chance. You do fear for the girls, especially the mission-minded Sela (Lily-Rose Depp, The King) who serves as the chief medical officer on board. She serves as the focus of attention for the increasingly scary Zac, and things really go downhill on the ship when his fragile male ego does not get what he wants. Even Christopher gets a bit too fresh, but his status as the hero of the story does not get compromised. The ship quickly devolves into a “pleasure first” mindset where critical life-preserving tasks are eschewed in favor of feasting, fighting and fornicating.
Those who are thinking with a mostly clear head see the dangers of what is happening, but once again the film jumps from plot strand to plot strand without developing it enough to make an impact. The closest it comes to succeeding is the stoking of fear of a potential “alien” on board that drives people to support a tyrannical figure. This script was written before the past several years of political polarization, but it serves as a decent mirror of some real-world events. The main issue with this tale is that it all plays out exactly how you would expect with nothing in the way of surprises. That is not even mentioning the logic gaps that come to mind from the core concept (Why is the fate of the human race being put on one ship? What happens if it breaks down?).
The script does deliver some entertaining individual scenes, but as a complete picture it feels like a story very uncertain of what it wants to be. This lacking spark in the script also translates to a series of mostly bland performances due to no one having any nuance to their characters. The film does earn points for including the likes of Viveik Kalra (Blinded by the Light), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Game of Thrones), Chanté Adams (The Photograph), Archie Madekwe (Midsommar) and Disney Channel graduate Madison Hu among its supporting ensemble, but those points are mostly erased by how little any of them are given to do. Everyone in this film is capable of more and the script really let them down.
From a production standpoint, there are some impressive visuals that help transport you into the world of the film, but pretty shots are not enough to make this film great. The same could be said for the extremely powerful score from Trevor Gureckis that serves as one of the highlights of this experience. Voyagers is not a complete disaster, but it does not come anywhere close to reaching the potential of its concept. It positions itself as a parable about the conflict between raw desire and the inherent longing for peace, but never amounts to more than a collection of genre tropes you have seen elsewhere. If you want an engaging, complex story about what happens to a group of kids raised on a ship, go watch The 100.
Video Quality
Voyagers makes the most of its 4K 2160p presentation in 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc. The uptick in detail is apparent in the textures of the clothes and the production design of the spaceship. This presentation especially shows its worth with black levels that are incredibly deep and detailed with digital noise mostly absent from the screen. The 4K presentation provides a depth of field that just cannot be replicated as well with the accompanying Blu-Ray. The interior of the ship mostly gives way to brighter scenes that wow with an intense clarity and a strong handle of white levels that show no evidence of blooming. Skin tones look very realistic throughout and show a great amount of facial detail. Color highlights are not as much of an improvement on this release due to the subdued, mechanical color palette that encompasses most of the ship. Despite this, the shades of the more metallic and stark white backgrounds are more nuanced. Overall, this is an excellent 4K UHD presentation that offers a noticeable uptick in clarity and depth.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that conjures a very specific mood that transports you to this claustrophobic setting. This is not the most action-packed film, but there are moments that give the track more of an intense workout. The spirited score from Trevor Gureckis is showcased beautifully here with an enveloping use of the surround speakers. The dialogue comes through crystal clear without ever being overpowered by the environmental effects or the score. The sound design is just as precisely thought-out as the on screen visuals with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects create a really nice soundscape including some pivotal mysterious thumps radiating throughout the ship. Activity in the low end does make itself known in a few key kinetic sequences in a manner that is quite pleasing. This is a lovely sounding release that brings the movie to life in a really splendid way.
Special Features
- Born For This – The Cast of Voyagers: An eleven-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss the concept and general themes of the film. There are some interesting anecdotes about how director Neil Burger developed the concept, his approach to working with the performers and much more.
- Against Type – Unlearning Human Nature: A seven-minute piece which explores the initial demeanor of the young passengers as humans who lack the natural spark of life. This goes a bit in depth into how the performers approached playing a character devoid of typical emotions.
- Survival of the Fittest – The Physicality of Voyagers: A five-minute featurette which looks at the place of the “alien” in the film and some of the more physical acts the performers had to depict on screen.
- On The Surface – The Visual Style of Voyagers: A ten-minute piece that explores the production design of the film and the work of cinematographer Enrique Chediak.
- Hidden Chambers – Tour the Humanitas: A seven-minute featurette in which supervising art director Kevin Houlihan takes you on a tour of the set.
Final Thoughts
Voyagers is a film with a premise that is rich with potential, but the middling script fails to bring any elements together in a narratively fulfilling way. You get bits and pieces of elements that a better film may have fleshed out further, but the potential for subtlety goes out the window early on and never returns. The performances range from decent to disappointing with no one person standing out as someone worthy of praise thanks to a lackluster script. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has given this one a 4K UHD Blu-Ray that sports a top-notch A/V presentation and a solid array of special features. If you are really craving fresh YA content, you might find something to enjoy here, but this will not do much for most people.
Voyagers is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
