Today’s quick review: The Beyond. When an anomaly dubbed the Void appears above Earth, the Space Agency is tasked with determining its origins. Under the direction of Space Agency executives Gillian Laroux (Jane Perry) and Alex Grant (Nigel Barber), the Agency prepares to launch a manned expedition into the Void. But to withstand the forces involved, the mission will have to be crewed by volunteers who have been transplanted into new, robotic bodies.
The Beyond is a budget found-footage science fiction movie. Framed as a documentary about the Void and the Space Agency’s efforts to investigate it, The Beyond chronicles the Agency’s increasingly risky attempts to plumb the Void’s secrets. The movie touches on themes of space exploration, transhumanism, and first contact. However, issues with the film’s writing, acting, and general storytelling quality keep it from doing much with the ideas it has.
The documentary format is actually well-suited to the subject matter, but it robs the story of much of its drama and humanity. Key moments take place either off camera or captured only in grainy fashion. There are few scenes where characters interact with each other rather than the camera, and even the most dramatic scenes have a neutral, sanitized quality about them. There are also few characters worth caring about and no character arcs to speak of.
The Beyond also has issues with basic storytelling. There’s no narrator to tie the documentary together, so the events have to be explained after the fact by the Space Agency’s specialists. This works well enough for certain developments, but there’s no clarification for some of the movie’s most perplexing events. The characters’ neutral affect is also at odds with the high-stakes problems and the ethically dubious solutions they come up with.
Watch The Beyond if you’re a sci-fi fan looking for something experimental. Its unusual presentation format makes it a mildly interesting watch, while its focus on the logistics of the project distinguishes it from most other sci-fi movies. But its low production values and limp storytelling keep it from living up to its full potential. Even die-hard sci-fi fans will get mixed results at best, and most viewers would be better off skipping it entirely.
For a much more expansive sci-fi film about space exploration, check out Interstellar. For a grounded, near-future look at space exploration, check out The Martian. For a well-crafted space drama about a stranded astronaut, try Gravity. For a more thoughtful, complex look at first contact, check out Arrival. For a sci-fi drama about human augmentation to explore beyond Earth, check out The Titan.
4.8 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.5 for decent ideas and missed potential.