Vertical Entertainment
The future is often depicted in film as a lawless place, full of renegades trying to fight back against the status quo. The opening of the 2020 science fiction flick Solitary begins with this trope. You have Isaac Havelock (Johnny Sachon) being chased by…you never really find out exactly, but he is being chased. He is then detained, and several days pass before he wakes up.
In a prison cell in outer space. He is there with another inmate Alana Skill (Lottie Tolhurst). The two soon find out they’re traveling on a small vessel to be part of the first colonies in space, and they’re supposed to be meeting another ship. However, their tiny pod separates from the main ship, which consequently explodes. Havelock and Skill must piece together how they wound up in the pod and try to make it back home.
The majority of the film’s runtime takes place between Skill and Havelock in their isolated pod. They communicate with people outside of the pod who try to calm them down and solve their situation. However, much of the action is between Tolhurst and Sachon. Director Luke Armstrong does pull off an unbelievable sense of claustrophobia. However, the two leads aren’t exactly convincing.
The film is also overshadowed by its visuals, with floating cars in the beginning and the space scenes taking precedence over plot and character development. Armstrong was clearly hamstrung by a low budget, yet even with that in mind, the film doesn’t truly connect. Fans of the A24 space prisoner thriller High Life may be interested in the idea of convicts being set out into space, however. The film, while visually appealing, lacks flair. A strong optional purchase.