Europa Report - Smart, Successful, Satisfying Science Fiction

"Try as you might to prepare for everything, there will always be that unknown element." All too often, filmmakers seem to feel that in order to sell a science fiction film, you have to dumb it down. Well, meet director Sebastián Cordero, who believes in going the other direction. If you love science fiction and have ever complained about the hare-brained execution and complete dismissal of science in films of the genre, then you need to seek our Cordero's Europa Report as fast as you possibly can.

Presented as documentary footage of a space mission to the titular fourth moon of Jupiter, Cordero puts us right in the middle of things with the crew through every aspect of their journey, from the mundane to the miraculous, from the dull to the dire.

The biggest mistake you could possibly make is lump this film in the "found-footage" category akin to Apollo 18 and Paranormal Activity. You couldn't be more wrong. The film is presented with absolute realism, as though we're peeking just a few years into the future. Consultants from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Astrobiology team helped Cordero achieve the most authentic film about space flight yet made.

It takes years to get from Earth to Europa, where real world science has discovered enormous lakes beneath the moon's icy crust, along with the highest likelihood of finding life in our solar system. Cordero and screenwriter Philip Gelatt have built off of early lived-in spacecraft film environments - 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Moon - and cast actors who breathe convincing reality into the six astronauts. Michael Nyqvist (the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Christian Camargo (Dexter, when it was still good) and Embeth Davidtz are the more familiar faces in the excellent cast. These are all intelligent characters - experienced scientists. But try as you might to prepare for every contingency, the variables of chaos when facing any harsh environment - when facing nature - can't all be prepared for. Things go wrong, but when they do, it's done convincingly and with real science. Most incredibly, Cordero shot the entire film in a Brooklyn warehouse for less then $10 million.

Europa Report is gripping, credible and compelling - the story doesn't always unfold in linear time, but in its brisk 90 minutes there is more awe, hope, science...and genuine fear than in any other science fiction film I've seen in ages. It not only entertains, but in this post-Space Shuttle era where more and more the future of space exploration seems to point to private corporations, Europa Report shows that the need to find answers and shine lights into the darkness is fundamentally human - and the film inspires. This is a film Arthur C. Clarke would have loved.

It's a spectacular achievement and Sebastian Cordero has a very bright future. If you have any fondness at all for space travel or science fiction, race out to discover one of the very best films of the year. Europa Report is in limited theatrical release and is currently also available via video On Demand and in the iTunes store. Breathtaking.