My first theatrical 2021 release is a science-fiction film featuring the stars of other sci-fi and fantasy films.  I love science-fiction more than just about any other genre, so I am perhaps overly critical when projects don’t deliver what I expect them to, and that is probably the case here.  I like the premise but I don’t think the film quite delivers on its promise.

Doug Liman’s film is set on “New World” in 2257 A.D.  A human village, Prentisstown, is upended when a space capsule crash lands in the forest nearby and its one surviving occupant, Viola (Daisy Ridley) is captured.  Because she is a woman, she is not trusted; there are no women in Prentisstown.  Furthermore, the men’s thoughts can be seen by all; this “noise” began when the spacefarers from Earth first landed.  One man, Todd (Tom Holland) contrives to take Viola to supposed safety, to another nearby settlement, but she barely trusts him and he cannot help but hide his attraction to the first woman he has ever seen.  From there the story becomes more complex and tricky.

I find this to be a terrific science-fiction premise — and yet the filmmakers fail to milk it properly.  Much of the film is walking and traveling, and the two characters gradually getting to know each other.  The “noise” is always present, and sometimes it is visually powerful, but more of the time it’s distracting (which, I suppose, is the point; the men hate having their thoughts public and try hard to hide them from others).  I actually became bored with the trek to the other settlement and beyond, when there are so many questions about the early spacefarers and their tragic story that remain unanswered.  And what about the Spackle, the terribly-named residents of this New World, who we see only once?

This movie is based on a book series by Patrick Ness (who helped write the screenplay).  I only hope the books delve more deeply into the crazy situation that these people find themselves in, because this movie avoids more than it tackles.  Its human behavior is both obvious and trite; perhaps this is meant to be a mirror for our own times, but I doubt it.  I really hoped that this would become meaningful, but I never felt that it did, which is a shame.  There are some good performances, especially from Cynthia Erivo and Holland, but this should have been much better than it is.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  8 April 2021.