Los Angeles Comic Con has come and gone, but one of the gems of the convention was the Prospect Panel on discussing the new indie sci-fi film Prospect starring Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos), Sophie Thatcher (The Exorcist), and Jay Duplass (Transparent, The Mindy Project). Bgeekyblog had the privilege of screening the movie early.  Here are my thoughts on the sci-fi Indie film.

Prospect is a science fiction indie film created by Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell and is based on a short film which premiered at the SXSW 2018 (South by Southwestern conference).  The short film won the Adam Yaunch Hornblower award.  Starring Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos) as Ezra, Sophie Thatcher (The Excorist) as Cee, and Jay Duplass (Transparent, The Mindy Project) as Damon, Prospect is Dust’s (label of Gunpowder and Sky) first feature film.  What is Dust?  Dust is a new streaming sci-fi service launched by Gunpowder and Sky, a digital content studio.  It will focus on streaming short science fiction films and Indie sci-fi films.  Being a sci-fi nerd myself, I am extremely excited about this as I always love being introduced to new science fiction.  Check them out at their website.

Now before I get into my rating of the movie, check out the Prospect movie trailer below:

What is my verdict?  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I won’t say too much about what happens in it as it comes out on November 2, 2018, in L.A and New York theaters, and lands nationwide on November 9, 2018.  What I will say will be as non-spoiler as I can make it.

Cast (Jay Duplass and Sophie Thatcher) and creators (Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl)  of Prospect at Los Angeles Comic Con 2018.

The basic premise of the film centers around Cee (Sophie Thatcher) and her father Damon (Jay Duplass).  This father-daughter duo is a long way from home and scraping a living by harvesting a very precious gem named Aurolac.  This gem can only be harvested on a moon far, far away. The moon’s atmosphere is toxic to humans which makes this job very perilous in the best of circumstances.  Things become very dangerous and complicated when other humans and greed become involved.  This story is a dramatic sci-fi that centers its attention on the lives of these every day people who are just trying to make a living and survive these harsh conditions.

I think the most impressive thing about this movie was how spectacular both the cinematography and acting was in this.  For Sophie Thatcher, this is her first feature film and she did such a phenomenal job as Cee.  Watching her grow and learn throughout the movie was fantastic.  And I loved the interaction between Sophie and her co-stars Jay Duplass and Pedro Pascal.

Now, as for cinematography, I was blown away by how well this looked on screen especially after learning just how small of a budget they had.  At the Los Angeles Comic Con 2018 Prospect panel, the creators, Christopher Caldwell, and Zeek Earl, were discussing this very obstacle.  They said they had a budget that was an equivalent of a fancy lightsaber battle in Star Wars.  This movie looked like it had a much bigger budget.  The rainforest they shot in was in Washington state, and it was a gorgeous backdrop to tell this very dramatic story.

Cast and crew of Prospect at Los Angeles Comic Con 2018.

Another interesting factor was the amount of details and work they put into this movie.  At the panel, the creators mentioned how they had created the space pod that Cee and her father Damon lived in.  It was created by a bicycle builder and had functional, working panels in it.  In fact, Jay Duplass (Damon) had to take a class and learn a 25 step sequence of how to undock a theoretical pod from a space station and landing it.  And Sophie had to learn, in the course of three weeks, a new language that she uses in the movie.

And each of the space suits are a little different.  For instance, Cee and Damon’s space suits pay homage to the space race of the 1960’s and 70’s.  And they were in these space suits for a large portion of the film, which is a feat in itself for the actors.  Sophie Thatcher said that the first week was the hardest as it was hard to breathe in the suits, which they later fixed, and they were not easy to move in.  She also went on to say that the helmet and suit helped her get into character as Cee.

Everything in the movie seemed practical and realistic.  This looks like how the future in space will be like from the technology to the social interactions between the groups.  It didn’t have lightyears ahead of technology, but something that I could see being made today or in the near future.  I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the movie because it definitely grounded it.  Instead of focusing on fancy tech, moviegoers focused on the very human story being told.

Overall, this movie really impressed me especially after learning all the work and how big of a budget they really had.  It was thoughtful and moving as well as a visual feast for the eyes. It is definitely one to look out for in L.A and New York come November 2nd and nationwide on November 9th.