OTHERLIFE. Surprisingly good small science fiction gem
…– while we all know that the legend of Mad Max was born in the Land of Kangaroos, beyond this post-apocalyptic gem, sci-fi cinema from Australia is not a common phenomenon. With even greater interest, I sat down to watch the film OtherLife, available on the Netflix platform, a futuristic thriller set in Perth with a futuristic twist, directed by Ben C. Lucas. I was not disappointed because once again it turned out that science fiction doesn’t need a multimillion-dollar budget to captivate the audience.
In futuristic cinema, the idea is crucial. The vision of incredible flying vehicles or digital metropolises is no longer dazzling enough to determine the success of this film genre. OtherLife is an example of a film that operates not with inflated aesthetics but with an interesting starting point, a plot intrigue rooted in fundamentally futuristic improbability. In Lucas’s work, it’s about a specific substance – or, as the inventor herself calls it, “biological software” – which, when dropped into the eye of the recipient, allows them to enter virtual reality. However, it’s not VR as we know it from shopping malls and presentations at various trade shows. Ren Amari (the mesmerizing Jessica De Gouw) has created a special kind of drug that allows the mind to move into any environment, designed from scratch by specialists from the company run by Amari or based on the user’s memories. Interestingly, the “software” designed by the beautiful scientist creates the appearance of being in another dimension for days or weeks, while in the real world, only a few dozen minutes pass.
OtherLife opens with a beautifully shot sequence in which two young characters – a man and a woman – relax on a white sand beach during a diving break. This scene returns multiple times in Lucas’s film because it is one of Ren’s memories, haunted by guilt. It quickly turns out that the beach scenes are moments just before a tragic event, as a result of which the heroine’s brother ended up in a state of brain death. Family drama becomes the driving force of the plot because all of Amari’s efforts focus on developing OtherLife in such a way as to bring her brother back to life. As one might guess, private motives quickly overshadow the business goals of the company, which is not in favor of her entrepreneurial partner. As Ren gradually loses herself in the obsession of redeeming guilt, she is not only pushed away from decisions about the future of OtherLife but, more importantly for her, from the possibility of conducting further tests on the operation of the software. The conflict with the business partner quickly intensifies, and its culmination is a significant surprise for the viewer.
It is impossible to describe the further plot of OtherLife without revealing important twists. Let it suffice as a recommendation that Lucas adeptly plays with concepts of time and space, but also finds interesting narrative applications for the amazing initial idea. The whole story is strongly embedded in an atmosphere reminiscent of the novels of Philip K. Dick: washed out, cold, somewhat paranoid, heightened by the hypnotic music of the little-known composer Jed Palmer. OtherLife refers to fundamental moral concepts for the science fiction genre, in this case, questioning the ethical – but not only – consequences of creating an alternative reality. In Lucas’s film, the question “What should really be considered real?” resonates in every other scene, and its echo lingers in the head long after the viewing. With modest means, a film has been created here that not only looks good but also engages in a dialogue with fundamental social ideas. And what has science fiction always been if not a contestation of the established order?
Dawid Myśliwiec