At first glance, The Colony is a dystopian future movie reminiscent of films and premises seen before, but the movie presented itself as far beyond cookie-cutter despite its predictability. I myself initially resisted having to get behind yet another character from a privileged elite class turning into a rogue redeemer, but I was quickly won over by the end of the film’s heart racing cold opening that sets the film’s gritty tone and fast pace. Directed and co-written by Tim Fehlbaum, The Colony was an exciting experience, feeling like a mixture of all of the science fiction classics that I love while still feeling like a unique world of its own.

Sometime a couple or so hundred years into the future, war, pandemics, and climate change made the earth uninhabitable, driving the elite to flee to a space colony they build nearby star Kepler 209. Two generations later, the colony decides to send teams of astronauts back to earth in order to assess their prospects of returning, however, the first unit is lost. Years later, unit 2 crash lands, however, a woman named Louise Blake (Nora Arnezeder) survives, encountering the remaining inhabitants of those left behind on earth who have since formed small factions on the mostly flooded earth. Louise sets out on her mission to find proof of reproductive capability on earth, as well as her personal mission of finding her father, captain of the first Kepler research unit, however, she is held hostage by the different factions along the way, and must ultimately decide which faction truly has the best intentions for the future of mankind.

The Colony is a dystopian future done right, hitting close to home by following the world’s current calamities of climate change, plague, economic disparity, and declining reproduction rates to their logical ends. It is a sickening kind of science fiction by its uncanny ability to look so much like our own reality, showing the scarier parts of the so-called slippery slope scientists warn about that society collectively has decided to ignore for the most part. The Colony shows all too possible realities that commingle with current headlines — frequent flash floods, population decline, and civil war — making my immersion into its story and the world nearly seamless.

The Colony delivers a high tension sci-fi journey, led by a protagonist that I fell in love with — the perseverance, strength, and vulnerability portrayed in starring actress Nora Arnezeder’s performance was impossible to deny, presenting one badass heroine I could totally fall in formation for in any potential sequels to this thriller. I remember saying ‘damn girl, that’s cold blooded’ quite a few times throughout the film, but The Colony is not at all gory or even necessarily horrifying, even managing to sneak in some emotional moments that are payoffs for Louise’s character building. At nearly 2 hours long, The Colony flew by as its pacing never let up, meanwhile, it still managed to thoroughly cover sociopolitical topics and environmentalism without feeling like it rushed through anything.

The last fifteen minutes of the movie, in particular, were a treat, when the musical score kicks it up a notch with some up-tempo but low-pitched music that perfectly matched the crescendoing action. It was lovely to see the action, the music, and the character arcs all come to a head at the end to give a rousing finale that did not disappoint — The Colony is enthralling from start to finish. If you enjoyed Water World, Interstellar, or perhaps the new TV show Raised By Wolves, I have a feeling The Colony would be enjoyable as well, as it strikes a similar sense of adventure, shares themes of familial importance particularly in regards to sustaining a future for children, and like these aforementioned sci-fi’s, The Colony‘s cinematography and overall production value rises to the occasion of visually portraying a hefty storyline.

 

8 out of 10

 

The Colony
RATING: R
The Colony Official Trailer (2021)
Runtime: 1 Hr. 44 Mins.
Directed By:
Tim Fehlbaum
Written By: Tim Fehlbaum,

About the Author

Adrienne Reese is a fan of movies - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and came to the horror genre by way of getting over her fear of... everything. Adrienne also writes for the Frida Cinema, and in addition to film enjoys cooking, Minesweeper, and binge-watching Game of Thrones.