High Life (2018)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

High Life (2018) – C. Denis

With references to both 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Solaris (1972), Claire Denis’ latest is set on a space journey to the farthest reaches of our solar system (or actually beyond and directed toward the nearest black hole in our galaxy).  Robert Pattinson stars as one of the only survivors of the crew (the other is a small baby) and the film jumps around in time (and hurtles through space) as we find out how he ended up there.  He certainly isn’t the typical astronaut type.  Soon, we discover that this is all part of a program by NASA to send death row prisoners to space to collect data and to judge impacts on them (despite the fact that the astronauts will age much less quickly than those back home will).  In the flashback scenes, a doctor (Juliette Binoche) is seen attempting to produce babies in space via artificial insemination – usually they don’t survive because of the radiation; she is also seen pleasuring herself in the “sex box”.  As such, the film does have a bit of a Cronenberg body horror feel at times, though it never gets quite as gross as he does/did.  Still, with a soundtrack mainly of low rumbles/electronic sounds and a lot of lonely scenes in space, this is a nearly soporific film, although if you get on its wavelength (as I did), it can be strangely absorbing (in an ugly and beautiful, sad but hopeful sort of way).  Yet, one can’t help but think that the film falls short of the sci-fi masterpieces that it aspired to join…