Voyagers

Voyagers
Starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, Colin Farrell
Directed by Neil Burger

The idea of nature-versus-nurture has been wildly debated for centuries. Are we the product of our upbringing or the events that occur around us that determine who we really are? Films have also tackled this issue from dramatic ways ("Captain Fantastic," "A History of Violence") to superhero ("Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II"), and everywhere in-between, but the most famous of these was "Lord of the Flies," which finds a group of children stranded on an island where they're forced to create their own community, and the quick deceleration of society begins. "Voyagers," a wholly original idea written by director Neil Burger, is basically the same premise: but in space. Yet unlike "Flies," "Voyagers" doesn't waste mental thought in exploring this thought-provoking debate, but rather uses it as background fodder and instead focuses on the same old struggles and violence you come to expect from films like this.

In the near future, Earth is uninhabitable due to severe climate change, and scientists discover another planet that can house humanity - but its 86 years away. They decide to literally cultivate their own astronauts by genetic engineering thirty infants based off the most intellectual minds imaginable, and then send them into space where they'll procreate during the trip and whose grandchildren will begin inhabiting the new planet. Led by Richard Alling (Colin Farrell), the ship takes off and the children inside begin to grow up. Ten years later, they're now teenagers, and are unified in their purpose due to taking a drink known as The Blue which suppresses their personalities, eliminating any desire for sex, violence, or differing personalities.

Christopher (Tye Sheridan) accidentally discovers that The Blue is a drug, and encourages his friend Zac (Fionn Whitehead) to not take it. Soon the two boys begin discovering their own identities, and especially Zac exhibits an aggressively sexual desire for Sela (Lily-Rose Depp), and repeatedly tries to seduce her, to Christopher's chagrin. Richard learns that the boys have stopped taking the Blue, and after a mishap Richard dies, leaving the teenagers to fend for themselves. They all choose to stop taking the Blue, and their repressed personalities begin to take hold. Soon Christopher and Zac find themselves at odds over how to lead, causing a rift between the group of teenagers that threatens not just their own lives, but the future of mankind as well.

"Voyagers" takes films like "Gravity," "Lord of the Flies," and "The Hunger Games" and pretty much churns out the worst in them all. There's nothing really original to the story, as you can see what's going to happen from miles away. You know Christopher will be the good guy due to his quiet nature and adherance to the rules, and that Sela will be the right-hand woman of Christopher while also drawing the ire and affection of Zac, whose basic appearance screams "bad guy" even before he knows it himself. When the teenagers learn their personalities, what follows is the traditional breakup of society where those who follow the rules feel that they're in the right because they maintain order and society, while those who want to follow their bodily pleasures no matter the consequences seem to be having more fun but ultimately end up causing more harm than good.

There's not a whole lot else to say on the topic, as the film itself is a shell of what it could've been. Tye Sheridan is completely boring as Christopher, who offers absolutely no charisma or even sense that the actor wants to be there in the first place. Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp...but not Amber Heard) is equally as boring as Sela, who has no emotion whatsoever throughout most of the film and feels more like wallpaper than anything. On the flip side, Fionn Whitehead overdoes the villainous cult-leader persona where it's just laughably bad and unbearable, as you eagerly await his demise (which isn't a spoiler, it'd be more of a spoiler to tell you that Kenny dies in almost every episode of "South Park").

The only thing the film has going for itself is its setting, which is a claustrophobic, all-white ship with narrow corridors and soulless rooms that adds to the sense of pure plainness that the story tells. It's not exciting at all, there's nothing really noteworthy to tell, and it's one that will be easily (and thankfully) forgotten not long after the credits begin to roll. The film itself is a wasted opportunity that could've focused on the nature-versus-nurture debate, but instead it settles for low-brow fighting and chases that ultimately don't really amount to a hill of beans.

Telling a story that's been told way better in countless other films, "Voyagers" will go down as another forgettable outer space film that tries to be something more than it was, culminating in an obvious conclusion that even a child can see coming a mile away.

The Score: D