Directed by: Neil Burger
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Fionn Whitehead, Lily Rose-Depp, Colin Farrell
If you thought the similar Passengers (2016) was absurd, wait until you see Voyagers. Both movies deal with a years-long journey to a planet on the other edge of the universe. The difference? In Passengers, the ship was populated by people hibernating in pods (two wake up well before the mission ends) while in Voyagers the travelers are wide awake. The plan is to send a group of thirty young people raised in isolation on the mission in hopes their grandchildren will eventually complete the trek to the faraway planet. Why raised in isolation? The hope is they won't know what they're missing when they leave. Like Passengers, Midnight Sky, or even Interstellar, Earth is Dying and the only way to avoid humankind's perishing is a planet many light years away.
In Passengers, I wondered aloud how the manufacturer of a hibernation pod tested their product to see if someone could sleep in it for 120 years. In Voyagers, I asked how much food, water, and clothing was necessary to care for potentially three generations worth of people on the same ship. What if something needs repair? Is there enough fuel? The ship should be the size of the gargantuan spacecraft shown in all its glory at the beginning of Spaceballs. The difference between Voyagers and Spaceballs is that Spaceballs is a comedy, while Voyagers provides unintentional laughs.
The group realizes a blue liquid they consume keeps their primal urges at bay so they don't spend all of their waking hours screwing. If you're hoping the voyagers' grandchildren can finish the journey, then you have to promote sexual relations. It's as if they want hanky-panky, but not too much. Don't even ask how they hope to govern such a thing. The mission's leader is Richard (Farrell), who acts as a father figure to the young men and women until he meets an inexorable exit midway through the film. Now the young adults are on their own, and all have a hostile reaction to refraining from drinking the blue water. Some are a bit more reserved, while others go batshit crazy. The two personality groups take sides and a Lord of the Flies scenario is born.
There is fighting and sex, although neither is intense enough to warrant anything worse than a PG-13 rating. The two leads get it on, but manage to keep on their shirts and underwear. Farrell, like the blue potion, at least manages to keep things on an even keel before the movie gets rid of him. No matter what was happening, the questions surrounding the movie's logic soon take over and that's deadly.
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