Superior sci-fi

Rating: 9/10 (6 December 2018)

The star-ship Avalon has a crew of two hundred and fifty eight along with five thousand passengers; all of them asleep. They are thirty years into a hundred and twenty year journey to the colony world; Homestead II. Then something goes wrong; a meteor strikes the ship leading to a malfunction in one of the sleeping pods; passenger Jim Preston is awakened and finds himself on an empty ship. At first he thinks the journey is almost over then he learns the terrible truth; he will die of old age long before the Avalon reaches its destination. Inevitably the loneliness gets to him and he starts contemplating waking another passenger; eventually he wakes Aurora Lane but doesn't tell her that that he is responsible for putting her in that position. He is concerned what might happen if she were to find out; that isn't the only thing to worry about though.
I really enjoyed this sci-fi drama; it started well as it introduced us to Jim and his situation. This wasn't rushed so the viewer can feel his growing desperation and be more sympathetic when he makes the morally questionably choice of waking Aurora. Similarly their growing relationship isn't too rushed. Towards the end the tension rises as it is far from clear if both of our protagonists will survive the growing technical threat. These two lead characters are believable and well-acted by Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. I also enjoyed Michael Sheen's performance as the ship's android barman, a delightful nod to the bar in 'The Shining'. The ship's design is impressive and the special effects are superlative. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of character led science fiction without aliens or antagonists.