Cargo (Ivan Engler, 2009): Switzerland

Reviewed by Tommy Gilbert. Viewed at the Mann Chinese Theater, AFI Film Festival, Hollywood.

Going into a screening of Cargo can be quite a thrill because it is the very first sci-fi film from Switzerland. Ivan Engler, the film’s director explained before the film began that it was very difficult to get funding for a production that was so very un-neutral about the future when its own country is politically neutral. The low budget might have been an excuse for computer effects to not be quite as stunning as what we’ve seen here in the United States, but it certainly didn’t detract from the efforts the crew put forth to make a nice space thriller.

Cargo’s premise begins with a space station in Earth’s orbit, a life-sustaining city in space that is barely surviving through the constant infestation of people escaping the doomed planet. With another planet far off in the cold reaches of the universe, Rhea, as the heavenly reward for expensive tickets, some aboard the space station join cargo ships to venture out and unload freight in exchange for money to save up and get tickets of their own. Laura Portmann (Anna-Katharina Schwabroh), the protagonist, hopes to join her sister on Rhea and escape the terrors of chilling outer space. The thrills begin to materialize, however, when a stowaway seems to be aboard the ship and mysteries about the unknown cargo begin to unfold.

This film explores the possibilities of a life where humans have no where else to go but into space and beyond, but differs from Wall•E in that it takes place in a time when we aren’t technologically ready to live comfortably in such an environment. The terror comes into the plot as it becomes apparent that there literally is nothing else out there to grasp for support but the crippling blackness of the universe. Isolated in emptiness and tormented by loneliness and a lack of control, fear of the unknown is really what drives this film.

This is definitely one sci-fi thriller to see because of its unique history and its creative use of parameters where there in fact is absolutely no way away from danger. Because Cargo is a film about such terrifying circumstances, it is obvious right from the very first frame that it is a film made to make a point. More than just a thrill ride, meaning purposely drips from the screen like the drops of water that flood the lower level of the Kassandra space craft that makes up the film’s setting. Along with a director that is sure to be bursting with more amazing ideas, what really caps off the excellence of Switzerland’s first science fiction movie is the superb acting performed by all of its cast members.