A Million Days review – low-budget sci-fi thriller asks if we should trust AI with our survival – The Guardian
This intriguing sci-fi thriller is a throwback to the type of cerebral teleplays and low-budget films that flourished within the Nineteen Sixties: ripe with gloomy lighting and dystopian pessimism, however with barely sufficient cash within the finances to pay for greater than two units. Suppose On the Seashore from 1959, or Seconds from 1966 – however then decrease your expectations as a result of it’s not wherever of their league. Nevertheless it’s not unhealthy, and the topic is well timed.
The time is a few many years sooner or later, and humanity has accepted that we’ve tousled the planet past restore. The one reply is to begin colonies off-world, beginning with the moon. Serving to to sow these seeds for the long run is an AI referred to as Jay that runs simulations to calculate dangers and resolutions. All that’s defined in a crawl and with fake information footage. The drama correctly begins at a rural home that appears like one thing from Grand Designs; it’s the house of Jay-creator Sam (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) and astronaut Anderson (Simon Merrells, a type of actors you’re certain you’ve seen earlier than even in case you can’t fairly place him). He’s going to be the top of the following essential mission to the moon, which launches tomorrow. The couple’s final night time collectively is interrupted by the arrival of Sam’s worker Charlie (Hermione Corfield), who’s troubled that Jay’s simulations posit not a visit of some days however one going to the Jupiter moon Europa, and from there the titular million days journey to Alpha Centauri. Faster than you’ll be able to sing “Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Reply Do,” the trio begin to suspect Jay has gone rogue and has her personal agenda.
Aside from a couple of moonlit wanders exterior to search for a lacking canine, and a flashback to a deep-space mishap rendered with visible results, the whole lot takes place inside Sam and Anderson’s home. That minimalism is ok, making for an attention-grabbing distinction with the huge distances and time spans conjured by the dialogue. However a bit extra fluidity and aptitude within the script would have been welcome, cleansing up the clunky, exposition-heavy lumpiness of all of it.
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