"Voyagers" Film Review

"Voyagers" Film Review

Rating: 1/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    Due to the pandemic of 2020, movie theaters across the world were forced to shut their doors. Thanks to the multiple vaccines that are now available to the public, theaters are allowed to reopen with limited capacity. Last night, my girlfriend and I ventured out to the theater for the first time in over a year to see Neil Burger's newest film "Voyagers". We were expecting a sci-fi action film and boy, were we disappointed. 

    The plot of this film had a lot of potential, yet never capitalized on it. We follow Colin Farrell's character who is breeding and training young kids to be able to continue the human race on a healthier planet than Earth. However, as the kids grow older, they realize the adults are trying to take advantage of them by taking away their primitive sexual drive. They start a rebellion against them, while also trying to escape the clutches of an evil "alien" force. 

    For starters, this film is overtly sexual for a PG-13 movie. I was uncomfortable watching some of the scenes in the film. Let's take the scene where one of the teenagers approaches the main girl (played by Johnny Depp's daughter). He touches her, then squeezes her breast. I'm sure it was as awkward filming it as it was watching it.

    We also see another scene of a teen boy thrusting into a naked girl, with a close up on their two faces during the act. I understand that the premise of this film is to show teenager's natural sexual desires, but don't you think maybe the director went too far? Most PG-13 films do show teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse. However, most is implied and more romantic than the sex shown in this film. This film showcases primitive sex between the teenagers, and it begs the question of whether the rating should be changed to make this film more suitable for adults than the teens it will attract. 

    Other than the uncomfortable sexual content present in the film, the pacing is incredibly slow and the writing is just plain awful. It's painful to have to sit and watch the whole two hours of this film. I caught myself checking the time more than once to see how much longer we had to suffer. 

    The acting wasn't anything spectacular either. It seemed very forced in some scenes, and there wasn't any real chemistry between our two protagonists. The characters felt very two dimensional, and we had no reason to empathize with them. They were all incredibly selfish and annoying. I personally had hoped the space station would spontaneously combust. Not only would it take care of all the characters, but it would actually give the film one good scene in the entire two hours.