Solid 'monster in space' movie

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2019)

Set aboard the International Space Station a team of scientists are preparing to analyse soil samples that a probe has brought back from Mars. A single cell is found in the sample; tiny but enough to prove that there is life of non-terrestrial origin. It gradually begins to grow and appears to react to stimuli. The news is greeted with excitement on Earth and the lifeform is quickly dubbed 'Calvin'. Inevitably it isn't long before things go wrong. After an accident in the lab it gets out of its quarantine container and attacks the crew. They struggle to keep it in the lab but it manages to get out and as it feeds it grows. They have to contemplate the fact that their mission is now to stop it getting to Earth rather than merely saving themselves.
Given that this features a deadly alien creature and is set aboard the ISS it is hardly surprising that it is described as 'Alien' meets 'Gravity'; that is a little unfair though. I didn't think it was as good as those films but it didn't feel like a rip-off to me. Even if the central idea wasn't the most original it was effective. Once Calvin is on the loose the tension rises quickly and there are some fairly disturbing moments. The location provides a great sense of claustrophobia and unlike most space based films there is no artificial gravity. There are some questionable moments but occasionally these are required to advance the plot... there wouldn't have been much of a story if they didn't make the mistakes that led to Calvin's escape. The cast, including some big names does a fine job; most notably Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Hiroyuki Sanada. The special effects are pretty impressive; both the realistic space shots and the creature design. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of sci-fi horror; it may not be the best in the genre but it is very far from the worst I've seen.