‘Settlers’ Does Home Invasion & Stockholm Syndrome In Space When They Could’ve Stayed Home [Review]

As our society has watched the likes of billionaire Richard Branson and Amazon mastermind Jeff Bezos proclaim themselves interstellar pioneers with their recent self-funded forays to the edge of space, it’s serendipitous to see a newly released movie about people inhabiting Mars following an ecological disaster on Earth and a story that unfolds where things predictably go awry.  Though said effort, entitled “Settlers” and helmed by Wyatt Rockefeller, foregoes the sleek spacecraft Branson & Bezos have both commandeered in favor of a stark, eroded landscape appropriate for the red planet. However, as potentially prescient and resonant its setup is — colonizers having to inhabit Mars because we neglected and ignored our climate change warnings and cataclysm struck — “Settlers” is ultimately little more than a bit of style and a smattering of substance. Perhaps it has more in common with the aforementioned self-satisfied space billionaires than one thought.

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Watching the recent self-serving joyride launches of Branson & Bezos, one couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of disappointment, especially as their employees rot on Earth for minimum wage and fighting for bathroom breaks. This feeling of dismay is echoed throughout “Settlers,” a movie that doesn’t scream entertaining sci-fi thriller! and yet managed still managed to create nearly 103 minutes of sleep-inducing colonialism.  There’s genuine talent involved—the film largely revolves around Ilsa (Sofia Boutella) who lives on Mars with her daughter Remmy (Brooklynn Prince) and husband Reza (Jonny Lee Miller) following an unnamed catastrophe back on Earth.  When intruders break into the farm and compound they’ve occupied and lay claim to the property, what began as a fairly straightforward look at family life and hardship in outer space becomes a home invasion thriller in space without the thrills and a heap of Stockholm syndrome. Hostage shock, temper tantrums and traumatized blank stares are all soundtracked by Nitin Sawhney’s ability to quietly lay one finger on a keyboard and utilize the droning sound for what he considers atmosphere. 

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It’s as dull as it sounds, and the film’s usage of chapters to break things up seems additionally useless, though fortunately, there are enough decent performances to help keep things slightly engaging.  Prince, who last wowed audiences in “The Florida Project,” is mostly relegated to screaming fits and bursts of tears, but she makes the most of this one-note, and the scenes clearly demonstrate her great potential.  Boutella follows up the physical contortions she brought to the Foo Fighters’ “Shame Shame” video with a role packed with emotion as she tries to do what’s best for her daughter. After one of the marauders, Jerry (Ismael Cruz Cordova), takes control of their land, she can’t help but find an attachment to him, and it’s clear in watching the expressionless gaze she wears throughout how broken she’s become.  Unfortunately, Jerry’s motivations remain unclear. After establishing that Ilsa’s family weren’t the first owners of their land, his plan then becomes using Ilsa and Remmy to restore the property to the greatness it once held, which never becomes anything less than murky nor is ever properly executed.  “Settles” really tries to be about the simmering tensions between captors and hostages, but Boutella, like Cordova (nor the filmmaker, can transform their brooding staring contest into something engaging. Scene after scene is the two actors looking across tables at one another moodily, angrily, as if they’re searching for their next line or the motivation to set up the next shot. If there’s deeper subtext there beyond resentment, plotting or probing, it never translates well. Rockefeller ultimately is going for mood, trying to create icy frictions between the character with minimalism sparseness, which is admirable but misguided and lifeless.

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Some elements work to be fair; the simple cinematography and filming locations, which made use of the small South African town of Vioolsdrift, are terrific to look at. Additionally, Jonny Lee Miller’s all-too-brief screentime sees the “Hackers” alum sporting a Viggo Mortensen-esque beard and making the most of his limited role. It speaks once again to Rockefeller’s ability to bring out quality performances in his small cast. Still, unfortunately, this is truly all that could compel someone to watch or recommend “Settlers,” a slow-burn drama that is just slow and enervating. There might be slightly more beneath the surface than a Virgin Galactic rocket or Amazon-funded BezosShip in this drama (that didn’t need to go to space to tell its story), but it’s hard to find gold within when there’s nothing inside but inert red dust all around. [D+]