‘Slingshot’ Lands Short of the Target

Slingshot

★ ★ ½

‘Slingshot’ tells the fictional story of three astronauts on a journey to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. As the movie opens, the crew wakes up from cryogenic sleep on their spaceship, the Odyssey 1. The journey to Titan is supposed to take just over two years to complete, and the crew go into cryo sleep in three-month increments.

To complete the journey to Titan, the Odyssey must slingshot around Jupiter, using the planet’s gravity to accelerate their travel.

As the story gets going, we’re told that cryosleep can cause disorientation, and the more the crew engages in it, the more likely adverse symptoms may occur. The disorientation can also cause hallucinations and a distorted view of reality.

Waking up from cryo-sleep on the Odyssey
© 2024 Bleecker Street

On the spaceship are John (Casey Affleck), Nash (Tomer Cappone) and Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne). John is our main protagonist, and each time he awakens from cryosleep he recalls his relationship with Zoe (Emily Beecham), his girlfriend. We get a sense that John left behind a strained relationship with her, and with each awakening, we get a glimpse of their relationship.

When we first meet the crew, they work well as a team. Of course, we know in films like this, the team is destined for a dysfunctional turn.

Casey Affleck as John
© 2024 Bleecker Street

Early in the film, John is the first to wake up from a cryosleep cycle. He hears Zoe’s voice and catches a glimpse of her on the ship. Before he can make sense of this, the ship begins to shake violently, and a ceiling panel falls and smashes John in the head. By now, Nash and Franks are awake and come to his aid.

This brings the crew to question the viability of the mission. What is the extent of the damage? What caused the damage? Can the mission safely continue?

Emily Beecham as Zoe
© 2024 Bleecker Street

They are unable to assess what caused the damage, and John’s injury turns out to be minor, so Franks orders the mission to continue since there’s no evidence of catastrophic damage on the Odyssey.

With each new cryosleep cycle, John continues to remember his past with Zoe and how they met. She was also instrumental in the Odyssey 1 journey to Titan, and each memory shows us deeper parts of their relationship.

Also with each crysleep cycle, Nash becomes increasingly nervous and agitated. His concern about the damage to the ship grows, as he has waning confidence the Odyssey’s structural integrity will hold up during the gravitational slingshot around Jupiter. Nash confides in John that the mission isn’t worth the risk. He proposes a mutiny to override the captain and turn back to earth.

The Odyssey approaches Jupiter
© 2024 Bleecker Street

The acting and storytelling are fine, and the success of this film is greatly dependent upon your reaction to the plot twist that comes as the tensions in the film reach their apex.

I saw this twist coming from a mile away even though it makes sense to the story. While the twist works, it seemed a little too obvious and counterintuitive to the tension the script was building to.

Slingshot isn’t a bad film. It just needed to stick the landing better.

Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller