Europa Report – Sci-fi med Klös och Claustrophobia

I first caught wind of Europa Report at one of those small, slightly musty filmfests in Göteborg, I think maybe around 2013? You know, where the popcorn’s kinda stale but the movie-talk afterwards over cheap öl always gets lively. Anyways, someone there described it as a “space flick without all the sparkly Hollywood trams,” which got me intrigued straight away.

The film, directed skillfully by Sebastián Cordero (ok, I’ll admit I had to google him back then), talks about astronauts heading to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, searching for life. And it’s one of those claustrofobic experiences I dig – think Alien meets the scope of Contact. Ångest, anyone?

Sharlto Copley steals every scene he’s in, hot off the heels from District 9 back then – he’s the eccentric, kinda relatable guy everybody knows from their fika break. He’s the type you’d wanna have på lag if the office coffee machine breaks down, reassuringly calm and slightly maladjusted at the same time. And let’s face it, any film that tosses Michael Nyqvist into the vacuum of space automatically earns bonus points from a Swede like me. Han är otrolig, always expressing more with less – understatement och melankoli perfected.

Visually it’s talks to my Inner nerd – sharp images, smart editing without going all ADHD-Michael-Bay on your eyeballs. BUT, I confess, around minute 65 or 70, my attention drifted a bit. Maybe it was my theater neighbour munching chips loudly (vad är det med vissa människor och snacks?), or maybe the movie just loses its footing slightly before a nail-biting finale.

Still, Europa Report nails one thing beautifully – the sheer lonely dread and wonder of space exploration. Makes you think twice next time you’re staring upp i himlen during midsommar around 3 på natten: vad tusan finns egentligen där ute?

watch the full movie on CinemaOneMovies on YouTube

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