OXYGEN | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Alexandre Aja (15, 100 mins)
A claustrophobic French sci-fi that’s basically a one woman show with Melanie Laurent superb as the confined heroine. Awaking in a cryogenic pod after some sort of breach in the pod’s efficiency, Laurent has no clue how and why she got there. She’s covered in wires, with needles going into her for drips and encased in a creepy plastic cocoon. Surrounded by computer readouts, and a floating screen above her, her only contact is MILO – the pod’s computer, voiced by never-flustered Mathieu Almaric.
Waking from cryogenic sleep impedes memory loss, apparently, so Laurent has to piece together why she’s there and escape – but with security protocols in place this is going to be quite tough. As the title of the film may suggest, there’s a problem with oxygen supply: 35% remaining, equalling maybe 70 minutes before death. The pod can call up photos, search the internet and eventually contact the authorities, but no one seems to be telling Laurent the whole truth. She discovers she’s a talented scientist, that she has a husband and the world seems to be in crisis – a deadly pandemic, yikes – but has she been trapped there by someone else, or is there another greater mystery to be solved?
The script, by Christie Leblanc, is full of twists and turns, some of which occasionally strain credulity yet Laurent and director Aja make them work. Playing like a high-tech version of the Ryan Reynolds man-in-a-box thriller Buried, Oxygen is tense and thrilling and Laurent’s desperate, despairing and courageously inventive scientist makes compulsive viewing, holding the attention throughout. French director Aja, who made Piranha 3D and woman-versus-alligator thrill ride Crawl, exploits the tension and paranoia; the plot shifts well, making MILO a real character and offering a literal humour injection as the computer repeatedly tries to give Laurent a sedative. An enjoyable, inventive nailbiter… and breathe.
Out now via Netflix
words KEIRON SELF