Thus far, Alexandre Aja’s body of work demonstrates the filmmaker’s keen ability to wring tension out of just about any scenario. Giving Aja the reigns on a claustrophobic single location-set thriller featuring a ticking clock sounds like the perfect recipe for the director to maximize suspense and, as the title suggests, leave you breathless. While Aja brings taut, propulsive energy matched by its talented lead, Oxygen doesn’t do anything new with its familiar setup.
Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) stars in this near one-woman show as Liz. Liz wakes up in a cryogenic medical chamber without any memory of who she is or how she got there. She’s in stable condition, but her pod was damaged, leaving Liz with dramatically reduced oxygen that continues to run out at an alarming rate. With the help of the pod’s artificial intelligence, M.I.L.O. (voiced by Mathieu Amalric), the young woman will have to piece together her broken memory and find a way out of this nightmare before the clock runs out.
The high-tech aspect retains visual interest throughout, taking place almost entirely within the med pod. Whether Liz is testing the bounds of the chamber, fidgeting with the various medical support systems, or scrolling through its internet capabilities, Oxygen offers an elaborate production design for such a small-scaled claustrophobic thriller. Elevating the visuals is the slick cinematography by Maxime Alexandre (Crawl, The Hills Have Eyes, Maniac), who consistently finds unique angles in such an enclosed space.
Laurent more than capably carries the movie; making an intrinsic character exterior to bring viewers along on Liz’s profoundly emotional journey isn’t an easy task. Liz cycles through panic, anger, forced calm, and frantic puzzle-solving while railing against the pod’s security protocols or tech failures, and keeps you invested throughout. Through phone calls, M.I.L.O., and unlocked memories, Laurent periodically gets to play off the voice acting of others to move the narrative forward with new reveals and obstacles.
Written by Christie LeBlanc, Oxygen loses steam the more Liz regains her memories. Even as Liz’s situation escalates with severity, the heavy-handed themes of identity and enduring detract from the thrills. Shot during lockdown, pandemic anxieties seep through and bog the latter half down further. It’s a derivative yet straightforward setup with resonance dependent upon its revelations. Some reveals do surprise, but many fail to make an impact. Instead of a full-throttle climax, Oxygen gently coasts into its finish line.
Aja’s latest is a well-crafted thriller anchored by a remarkable lead, but it lacks his typical go-for-the-jugular flair. Instead of high-octane thrills, Oxygen favors sentimentality by way of taut, energetic storytelling. The more exposition gets delivered, the more the urgency fades. Aja and Laurent attempt to sustain the energy levels and the chamber never ceases to find new ways to keep Liz in peril. Still, it’s a derivative concept done effectively before, borrowing from similar sci-fi movies, and Oxygen never attempts to do anything new. It’s a straightforward thriller on a familiar trajectory, made by a highly talented cast and crew. It at least makes for a fun ride while it lasts.
Oxygen releases on Netflix on May 12.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3663658/review-alexandre-ajas-oxygen-breathes-style-energy-familiar-thriller-setup/
No comments:
Post a Comment