THE TITAN

US, 2018, 98 minutes, Colour.
Sam Worthington, Taylor Schilling, Tom Wilkinson, Noah Jupe, Agyness Deyn.
Directed by Lennart Ruff.

The Titan had Netflix screenings and, according to the IMDb bloggers, practically no one liked it at all. It opens as if it is going to be a space adventure, then moves to aspects of science-fiction, and a focus on a medical thriller.

The premise is that the world cannot sustain the human race and there must be further explorations for survival in space. The ring, TItan, of Jupiter, is chosen. The Pentagon finances medical experiments with a group of soldiers so that they will be ready to go to Titan and pioneer settlement.

In fact, most of the action takes place, never in space but glimpses of space, but in a military compound, top-secret. The film was made in the Grand Canary Islands.

Sam Worthington is the main candidate for preparation for Titan. He is married to a loyal wife, medical doctor, played by Taylor Schilling. Noah Jupe, who had impressed in films like Suburbicon and Wonder, is their son. The head of the program, determined and obsessive, is played by Tom Wilkinson.

The action opens cheerily enough, husbands and wives on the compound, going through all kinds of fitness training, experiments being made with enhancing drugs. An early manifestation is that Rick, Sam Worthington, and his wife are able to stay underwater for 30 minutes and more. He can also swim like a dolphin. The efforts are applauded, there are celebrations.

However, the film does darken, Rick finding that his skin is shedding. His wife is very concerned, becoming more suspicious. Then some members of the experiment die violently.

There are Pentagon discussions, blaming of the head for not knowing actually what he was doing but forging ahead nonetheless. This becomes more complicated when there is an experiment on Rick’s eyes enabling him to see in the dark but it completely transforms him into a monstrous looking figure. And other members of the experiment die or are killed.

The climax is the confronting of Rick by the military with guns, his wife persuaded to deliver a fatal injection where she injects saline which enables Rick to go on the loose, a rendezvous in their favourite scenic spot, but he and his wife taken. However, the military leader targets the leader of the experiments rather than Rick – and, the film ends indicating some hope that he can be treated medically, be himself and that the plans for Titan may continue.