#Johann Bartlitz

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Horror Movie Review: High Life (2018)

Horror Movie Review: High Life (2018)

High Life is a 2018 science fiction horror film directed by Claire Denis, in her English-language debut, and written by Denis and her long-time collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau. A group of criminals serving death sentences are sent on a mission in space to extract alternative energy from a black hole. Each prisoner is treated as a guinea pig by Dr. Dibs (Binoche) for her experiments. Dr Dibs…

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Thoughts : High Life (2018)

One of the fun things about playing catch-up for a year-end list is the discovery phase... as much as I’d like to think I keep tabs on what’s being released, it’s nearly impossible to have every film on your radar.  With the recent backlash against Robert Pattinson’s casting as the new Batman, I’ve been one of the people that has championed his non-Twilight work as proof of his ability to step into the cape and cowell.  That being said, I stumbled across High Life while looking for films I may have recently overlooked, and the sci-fi fan in me was instantly curious.

Monte (Robert Pattison) is a former prisoner turned father, isolated on a spaceship with his daughter Willow (Jessie Ross, Scarlette Lindsey, Joni Brauer and Johann Bartlitz).  Prior to their isolation, Monte was serving time on the trip as a crew member on a mission to find alternative energy sources via extraction from Black Holes.  On top of this main mission, resident scientist Dr. Dibs (Juliette Binoche) uses the prisoner population to perform a series of artificial insemination experiments in hopes of birthing a baby in space.  Dr. Dibs and members of the crew, who are prohibited from sexual contact with one another, use a mechanism on the ship known as The Box for a heightened masturbatory experience, but none of Dr. Dibs’ experiments are successful.  As time takes its toll on the prisoners and crew, conflicts arise and tough choices are made at both the expense and preservation of human life.

Claire Denis does a great job of using space, and its extremes, as the grounds for deep explorations on isolation from several aspects, and on many levels.  Naturally, the distance from Earth creates an isolation, which is compounded by the fact that space-time and relativity literally makes them move at a different rate of time.  Add to this that the majority of those on the ship are prisoners who are not only banned from sexual activity, but then in turn forced to be experimented on sexually, and the immediate frustrations of isolation are put in direct comparison with the long term ones.  Furthermore, Monte is forced to not only watch people die, but he finds himself responsible for a life, which could only be perplexing considering the isolation aspect.  

The deep presence of sexuality, eroticism and sensuality is unique, with love and sex generally not being the focus of reality-based science fiction, but these aspects are certainly not glamourized or shown compassionately.  What we are given, instead, is a theater of extremes courtesy of prisoners and a scientist that are facing the end of their limits due to their confinement.  The cruelty displayed from all sides is almost always oddly justifiable, setting up a sliding scale concept where cruelty has no concrete value, and is wholly subjective based on experience and perspective.  This, in turn, makes the presentation of the concept of faith questionable, putting a nice existential cherry on top of the entire mix. 

In terms of special effects, the realistic portrayals of space as a void, space-time and Black Holes are extremely captivating and impressive.  The film itself is colorful, which helps imply space (no pun intended) in otherwise cramped quarters.  The majority of the film takes place in these quarters, with brief asides back on Earth, so when the aforementioned space visuals are presented, they stand out in the sense that the fallout from these events creates the terror of the unknown.  The soundtrack and score are sparse and generally only used to punctuate the fantastic moments, which further drives home the overwhelming sense of isolation the film shoots for.   

Robert Pattinson uses the laserlike, monk-style focus that comes with his character’s celibacy to create a sense of honor and altruistic duty, making him an incredibly strong father role in a casting that would generally be given to a motherly role.  Juliette Binoche brings the energy of a mother, a model, a scientist and a witch all to the table, in an energetic and lively mixture that puts her in a freeing opposition to the remainder of the ship’s passengers.  Mia Goth brings equally intense levels of focus that are similar to Pattinson, mostly due to her wanting to keep any assemblance of freedom that she can while in the hellish captivity she faces.  Jessie Ross brings an odd balance of comfortability that stands in opposition to Pattinson’s lack of being able to comprehend the concept of freed, with infant Scarlette Lindsey bringing personality and wonder to the Willow baby role.  Andre Benjamin is given a few reflective moments that show his potential dramatic chops, but these mostly personality-driven moments are few and far between due to his supporting role.  Agata Buzek, Lars Eidinger, Claire Tran, an intensely creepy Ewan Mitchell, Gloria Obianyo and Victor Banerjee round things out.

High Life feels like the yang to the yin that is a film like Sunset... the study of humanity as the threat rather than an unknown force is made more compelling by the desolate backdrop of space.