Skip to content

THE FINAL LAND [Sci-Fi London Film Festival]

Written By:

RICH CROSS
final land

THE FINAL LAND / CERT: TBC /  DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: MARCEL BARION / CAST:  TORBEN FÖLLMER, MILAN PEŠL /  RELEASE DATE: TBC

German indie sci-fi Das Letzie Land (The Final Land) is a claustrophobic two-hander set aboard a cramped and dilapidated space craft on which a pair of ill-matched crew members (an escaped prison inmate and a guard sent to capture him) battle to save the ship and themselves from disaster and somehow navigate their way to a new life.

From the moment the salvaged semi-wreck takes off, it’s a life-and-death struggle to keep the thing flying as the duo try to master the controls and bring systems back online. Forced to rely on each other’s talents, trust on board still remains in very short supply.

With almost all of the film set aboard the beaten-up vessel, The Final Land would deserve plaudits for its design and cinematography alone. Channelling the sensibilities of films as diverse as Dark Star, Alien and Delicatessen, this imaginative piece of low-budget European cinema makes great play of a ship that’s almost entirely built of vents, ducts, pipes, shafts, dimly-lit display panels, grimy keypads and failing tech. Beautifully lit and shot, the intensity of these strangers’ shared predicament feels up close and palpable.

As the fellow travellers are drawn into ever sharper conflict, escapee Adem attempts to uncover the backstory of the vessel’s previous crew and unearth the clues that might get them direction, while prison guard Novak becomes increasingly drawn to the lure of a hypnotic homing signal. Frequently framed in close-up, the committed performances of cast members Torben Föllmer and Milan Pešl are suitably intense. As Adem grows ever more concerned about the behaviour of his obsessive ship mate, some kind of explosive showdown seems inevitable.

Writer-director Baron’s first feature (which began life as the one-liner “two or three emaciated people in a poky spaceship cockpit”) is impressively self-assured and strong on sweaty, grimy atmospherics. The set design is top-notch, and the soundscape, score, model work and practical effects all vastly exceed the expectations of a minimalist crowdsourced budget.

It’s only in the final act that the pace slows sharply, as the mood becomes unexpectedly ethereal, dissipating much of the tension that the previous eighty minutes had ratcheted up so effectively. But this remains a striking directorial genre debut, a new entry in the “failing spaceship” genre that’s unexpected, unpredictable and superbly rendered on screen.

RICH CROSS

You May Also Like...

chinese remake of anaconda drops trailer

ANACONDA Trailer Grants First Look At Remake Of 1997 Horror Flick

Three sequels and a spinoff-crossover film wasn’t enough for the 1997 creature feature Anaconda, which not only has a new movie in development, but is getting a Chinese remake! From
Read More
black widow star scarlett johansson in talks to lead new universal jurassic world film

Scarlett Johansson In Talks To Join JURASSIC WORLD Film

Another MCU star appears to be taking up the reins for Universal’s new Jurassic World movie: two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to lead the franchise that
Read More

Exclusive Reveal! Titan Comics to Deliver Prehistoric Hysterics in First 2 DUMB DINOS Collection

Titan Comics have exclusively revealed to STARBURST that they’re gearing up to publish the first-ever collection of the hilarious cult digital comic strip 2 Dumb Dinos, and we’re not the
Read More

New Dates For Lovecraftian Key of Dreams

Key of Dreams has announced new spaces for its titular immersive luxury horror event. The critically acclaimed company is known for its overnight experiences that dunk you into a strange
Read More

FAB Café to Host Free Film Screening of New Indie Comedy SECRETS OF A WALLABY BOY

We’re well known for our championing of truly independent filmmakers here at STARBURST, so it’s doubly exciting to be writing about one of our own! After joining the crew in
Read More
colin farrell returns as oswald cobblepot in the penguin series trailer

Colin Farrell Returns In THE PENGUIN Trailer

Colin Farrell returns as Gotham City’s answer to Tony Soprano in the first trailer for Max series The Penguin, which spins out of the world of the 2022 DC film
Read More