The first English-language feature from the team of Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper will try to succeed where others have failed (or at least come up short). Vesper is the latest entry in the "dystopian sci-fi that's really about inequality." In the past decade, films like In Time (2011) and Elysium (2013) haven't quite hit the mark, despite being obvious metaphors for life under capitalism.
In this entry, Vesper and her father (Eddie Marsan) live among scavengers in a world blighted by climate change. They and a few others try to survive in a world that has few natural resources. Just trying to grow enough food to sustain themselves is a struggle. But the select few that get to live in the Citadel have everything thing they need, but intentionally keep "outsiders" out. When a Citadel ship crashes in the woods, Vesper hopes its pilot (Rosy McEwen) will be her ticket out of destitution. That journey will be much more treacherous than she can imagine.
Vesper opens in limited release and on VOD on Friday, September 30.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
