Neil Burger’s latest film stars Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, and Colin Farrell. Voyagers takes audiences to the depths of space alongside 30 genetically engineered young adults who travel in search of a new home to repopulate a new planet. The teens must learn how to control their desires while trying to survive.
Burger’s previous directing credits examined similar sci-fi concepts before in films such as Limitless, The Illusionist, and the first Divergent film. Voyagers also explores similar territories as Morten Tyldum’s Passengers. The film is basically Lord of the Flies, but it doesn't add anything new to the sci-fi genre because the story isn’t rich nor engaging enough to get the viewer interested despite its interesting premise on the dark side of humanity, power, and what it takes to build a society.
Lionsgate
Most of the performances are generic because the characters are one-dimensional and undeveloped. As Christopher, Sheridan is bland and I felt as if I was watching a piece of cardboard. Whitehead’s performance as Zac was villainous and aggressive, particularly in his belief that he was fit to be a better leader than Christopher who was turned down by other crew members. Zac tries to convince the other crew members there is an alien on board who desires to be the protector of the ship. Depp delivers an authoritative performance as Sela who tries to stick to the part of what is at stake and what is important. Farrell is the only adult on board who tries to keep the environment as controlled as possible.
As the film progresses, it does lead to a climax and ending that feels satisfying, but the journey of getting there wasn’t worth the ride. Due to the characters not being totally developed, there is very little to be fully invested in. The film has some fantastic cinematography that shows the camera racing through futuristic white, bright hallways. Voyagers is not that bad of a film, but lacks the confidence to be truly entertaining. Not Recommended.