OXYGENE

France, 2021, 100 minutes, Colour.

Melanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Eric Hersen- Macarel, Laura Boujenah, Malik Zidi.

Directed by Alexandre Aja.

The name of the director, Alexandre Aja, will be well known to fans of the horror genre. He actually has quite a good reputation, beginning with his French macabre Haute Tension, which led him to the United States for the remake of The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3, and the very effective hurricane film, rule, the heroine struggling with floods and alligators. So, it is something of a surprise that he made this intelligent futuristic science-fiction film, and back in France.

We gradually discover, along with the central character who comes to consciousness finding herself confined, tomb-like and bound, in a scientific container. She does not know who she is or why she is there. But, then an artificial intelligence voice begins to communicate with her, giving her some information, suggesting ideas, her memory slowly coming back, her anger at her situation.

This is the part of the review where the reviewer has to stop revealing the plot because it is important that the audience share the discovery with the trapped Liz. She is played by the prominent French actress, Melanie Laurent. And, she elicits compassion from the audience in her situation, in her entrapment, her gradual discovery of who she is, why she is there who was responsible – and the continued information that her oxygen supply is gradually dwindling.

One of the interesting features of the entombment is that the artificial intelligence is able to suggest how she might deal with her situation, call the police who can track her down, enable her to make phone calls – but much of this prove something of an illusion.

One thing that can be said about the scenario is that it takes place in the distant future, that the world population is under threat of extinction, that space exploration has become essential, that cryogenics is one way of preserving lives and ensuring continuity in the future.

If this scenario sounds appealing, with the assurance that the film is well written, well-acted, that it can be described as intelligent science-fiction, then it is certainly worth a look.

1. The title? Continued focus on the levels of oxygen? Oxygen, breath and life?
2. The later 21^st century, the situation of the world population, virus and infections, the death of the human race? Space exploration and further planets and life? Cryogenics and the development? Science, scientists, decisions about life and death? Government interventions?
3. The claustrophobic nature of the screenplay? Within the pod? Liz, lying on the base, confined? The space in the pod? The technology? The effect on her, waking, puzzled, memory loss, gradual recovery of memory? MILO, the communication, orders, information, police, phone calls, visuals, articles, video material? Claustrophobic for Liz? Claustrophobic for the audience – but the audience able to escape outside the pod with Liz’s memories and imagination?
4. The existential implications of the screenplay? What it is to live, identity, cloning, destiny, possibilities of death, euthanasia procedures?
5. Liz, Melanie Laurent’s holding the film, strong presence and performance? Age, waking, her immediate reactions, panic, pulling out the connections, looking at the technology? Her taking control, breathing, planning, thinking, alternatives? The conversations with MILO? Getting information, further thought, the beginnings of memories, her relationship with Leo, the holidays, the bonding, wanting children? The response to the articles, the photos, Leo as her husband?
6. MILO, the voice, knowledge, machine, ability to draw on information, but strict on legislation, penalties for defacing the pod? Impersonal and personal? Liz’s response to MILO?
7. The call to the police, the captain, his concern, the connection, static, failings, continued conversation, his promises, the search for the location, the information about the pod, codes and their use? His going off-line? The revelation that officials had got to him, that he was urged to say to Liz what she wanted to hear?
8. The phone call to Leo, his disappearing from the photo, denial of his existence, not her husband? The growing memories? His illness, disfigurement? In a pod?
9. The phone call to her mother, her mother and the mystery of her daughter’s disappearance, mother and daughter love? The pathos of the phone call?
10. The tension in the drama of the decreasing oxygen, information given about its decrease, the effect, possibilities for survival?
11. The talk with the expert, the videos of the speech, the students, the explanation of the cryogenics? The older woman on the phone, urging Liz to discover the truth, to search for Leo, to work out what was happening?
12. Liz discovering she was a clone, the effect, the memories of Leo but not having lived them? Her resignation?
13. The discussions with MILO about procedures, medication, time for death, survival? Issues of resuscitation after cryogenics? Her decision, the reconnecting of the procedures? The information about Leo’s pod, seeing the range of pods, the range of those that were lost, the deaths? Leo and surviving? Her returning to the cryogenic sleep, covered?
14. The aftermath, reunited, the planets, the cosmic vision, the hopes for the future?