• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • The Wellesley (COVID) 100
      The Wellesley (COVID) 100
    • In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
      In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
    • Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
      Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
      The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
    • Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
      Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
    • No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
      No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Be/longing Centers Connection and Care
      Be/longing Centers Connection and Care
    • No image
      Birds Falling Upwards: Wellesley College Theater’s The Moors is a Must-See
    • No image
      Sometimes you just need to read a YA “Groundhog Day” to feel something
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Health and Wellness
    • February Student Athlete of the Month
      February Student Athlete of the Month
    • Athletics Update
      Athletics Update
    • Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
      Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
      Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
    • Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
      Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
    • Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
      Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Rosemarie Goldstein Arts, ReviewsMay 17, 2021

“Stowaway” Fails to Live Up to its Potential

Image Courtesy of Netflix.
Warning: contains spoilers

Yet another movie about a space mission gone wrong is now on Netflix. Stowaway is a recently-released movie about a three-person mission to Mars that went haywire when the crewmates found an unknown passenger onboard. I was initially excited to watch this movie because I thought it would be a suspenseful but well-told story, and while I was correct in this regard, it fell flat of what it could have been.

Stowaway was written and directed by duo Joe Penna and Ryan Morrison, who previously worked together on another suspenseful film, Arctic. The opening scene of Stowaway starts off like almost every movie about space: with a countdown to liftoff and shots of the astronauts as they prepare for this long, arduous journey. Instead of focusing on the scenery outside of the space shuttle while it launched, the scene showed the astronauts’ facial expressions, helping to introduce the audience to the main characters in this movie. The jolting camera shots along with the aggressive colors in this scene (think bright orange spacesuits) make everything feel chaotic while showing how harsh this reality can be. The addition of quiet and serene music after the astronauts pass through the atmosphere makes up for the previous shaky and confusing scene. 

This tranquil period is quickly punctured when the commander of the mission, Marina Barnett (Toni Collette), finds an unconscious man in the space shuttle — this man turns out to be Michael, a launch support engineer. Because of his appearance on the space shuttle, there is not enough oxygen and everyone is in grave danger. Just as in so many other movies about space, the crew members–medical researcher Zoe Levenson (Anna Kendrick) and biologist David Kim (Daniel Dae Kim)–must now figure out a way to save themselves.

Once I got to this part of Stowaway I had a few assumptions about how the movie would turn out: they would have a triumph but then something terrible would ruin everything, they would persevere but it would end poorly, or maybe they would pull through and the space mission would be successful. I ended up being correct; the astronauts had a small triumph before a solar storm ruined their chances of getting more oxygen. Everything seemed predictable, and while I was so ready for a plot twist that would make the movie worth watching, that plot twist never came. 

Stowaway ends with a shot of Zoe looking off into the distance in space waiting for her imminent death, and then pans out to darkness. I was not expecting the movie to end this way and always thought that even though everything was going horribly wrong, the movie would still end with some type of closure. The writers tried to make the ending seem hopeful by repeating Zoe’s voiceover on why she wanted to apply for the space mission program (to “give her life meaning”). It works to some extent but still leaves the audience wishing for a better ending and a better story. I was left staring at my computer screen wondering what I had just spent the last 116 minutes of my life watching, unsure what exactly I got out of it. To me, every movie has the opportunity to inspire or at the very least make the audience feel some type of emotion. Stowaway came close to doing that but ultimately missed its chance to do so much more. 

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous article“In the Heights” is the musical block-party to look forward to this Summer
Next article2021 books to keep your eyes on

You may also like

Be/longing Centers Connection and Care

Birds Falling Upwards: Wellesley College Theater’s The Moors is a Must-See

Sometimes you just need to read a YA “Groundhog Day” to feel something

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top