Review of Spaceship Earth
midlandsmovies • August 3, 2020
Spaceship Earth (2020) Dir. Matt Wolf
How would humans survive in a biosphere was the question asked in 1991 when a group of 8 people decided to spend 2 years quarantined inside a self-contained eco-system i.e. a large greenhouse.
This new documentary attempts to deconstruct those behind the experiment, as the scientists try to find out how to endure the limiting conditions inside “Biosphere 2” (Earth itself is Biosphere 1 we are told) built in the Arizona desert.
Spaceship Earth should then be an interesting premise – a biodome constructed by some eccentric wannabes – but it takes this idea and delivers it in such a colossally dull way. Using (almost unedited) archive footage, we get elongated background dirge on the cult-like amateur new age ‘pioneer’ eco-dullards who haven’t got a shred of personality between them.
How can you make such a radical idea so boring? Well, endless shots of farming, random administration and explanations help this by slowing the story to a tiresome crawl. And although they say they are “wacky” and the experiment itself “biblical”, they are in fact such dull people there is no connection to them or their work. The film fails to find an engaging hook or angle and sadly flails around ideas and themes without any precision.
Everything the people describe their dream dome project to be – full of “wonder” and a “sensation” – is simply not present in this film. They keep referring to their “charismatic” leader. Where? Who? There’s no one with charisma here.
As you can tell, this started to make me angry. If you must watch it, jump a long way in as you can catch up with the people finally entering the dome without missing a thing.
My patience was severely tested with one scientist excitedly (for her I guess) exclaiming “It was extremely difficult to bake a cake”. Oh, do fuck off would you.
In the end they were trapped with no immediate means of escape which is how I felt whilst watching Spaceship Earth. I therefore recommend putting this documentary in a sealed and enclosed environment and never let it out, or give me the sensationalist version because this ‘more authentic’ take is a snooze-fest.
★★
Michael Sales
UNCANNY Directed by Liam Banks 2025 Superfreak Media Liam Banks follows up the excellent Run For Your Life! ( review here ) with a short, sharp horror experience that takes influence from the glut of uncanny, ‘imposter’ horror content across YouTube and gaming currently. James Podmore plays Jordan, a successful singleton who is looking for love on an online dating platform. After a brief, comical interaction with one lady (played by Run For Your Life! lead Rosie Frost), he connects with Amanda (Racheal Caulton). However, there is something clearly very wrong with Amanda, especially when she finally turns her camera on to reveal a distorted, not quite human façade. Podmore is great as the confused lead, recognising that something is clearly wrong, but also wanting to give his match the benefit of the doubt. And the script kicks him into action just before he risks becoming a stereotypical horror victim. Similarly, Caulton manages to shine through the layers of special effects and voice manipulation, proving she’s just as effective an antagonist, as she is horror victim. Banks, who also co-handled script duties with Charlie Brentnall, does an excellent job with the effects here. Playing it safe by keeping Caulton in low light for the most part, the effects on her face look great, even as the film quickly shifts to more of a home invasion style piece. There are also some neat little ‘did you see that?’ moments, with Amanda placed in the background of scenes; standing out just enough to heighten that uncanny feeling, only occasionally marred by a too-obvious sound design that fills the silence with stingers to make the scares obvious. Overall, it’s an excellent short. One that continues the streak of high-quality horror productions that Superfreak Media has been delivering. At just 20 minutes, there’s no fat to trim here, delivering a genuinely tense, uncomfortable experience that will keep the Halloween vibes coming. 3.5 / 5 Matthew Tilt Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tiltmatthew90/ Watch the full short for free on YouTube below:
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