I.S.S. came out in theaters on Friday, Jan. 19 — the film follows United States and Russian austronauts on the International Space Station, who are instructed to take the vessel over by any means necessary after a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. 

The entire duration of this film takes place inside or around the I.S.S., so it’s limited to a certain extent. Still, I thought most of the visuals were well executed to make it as immersive as possible. Along with that, the flick utilizes a lot close-ups, really hammering home the claustrophobic nature of the setting. 

By nature, this is a really compelling story. As the austronauts themselves say, this is supposed to be the one place where they put politics and everything happening down on Earth aside.

In this instance, however, their countries give them an objective that they’re expected to follow. It almost turns into an examination of human nature, as these characters have to decide who they can trust and who they want to protect when chaos breaks loose. 

I.S.S.’ runtime is 95 minutes — there are times when it feels overlong, and other times when it feels not long enough. Specifically in the first half, the movie effectively builds tension, while also clumsily dragging along. In the second half, however, several aspects felt rushed. Therefore, some more work could’ve been done in editing to make this flow better overall. 

The film would have also greatly benefited from adding more of a mystery aspect to it. It basically shows the audience who is lying and who is telling the truth each step of the way, eliminating any aspect of surprise. Instead of being able to analyze the characters for clues, this just felt like a more straightforward viewing experience. 

In the end, I.S.S. features impressive cinematography, solid performances and a gripping storyline. I appreciated that it never took sides in the issue, and more focused on the aspect of human nature itself. The action on display was very minimal, but when done, it was effective. There were some issues here that are hard to ignore, but I can’t deny that I still had a good time watching this.

Rating: 3 out of 5