There was a time I mentioned several times already that science fiction happens to be my best genre of film. For that reason, it is quite disheartening how there have been very few great sci-fi movies in the past few years. Within that genre, I also like stories that revolve around cold, lonely and claustrophobic settings of space which again is partly why I took the chance to watch director Mikael Håfström’s Slingshot … and also why I quite liked it in the end.
John (Casey Affleck, Oppenheimer) is one of the three astronauts assigned to a mission on Saturn’s moon Titan. As the mission involves a slingshot maneuver around the gravity of Jupiter, he, Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix) and Nash (Tomer Capone, The Boys) begin to lose touch with reality as their drudgery of drug othertakings results them being in a comatose like state for a very large time … or some of them. Or perhaps they are already all insane. Yes, it is that type of film, to my satisfaction.
I do not think I have yet encountered a work in which there are so many equally plausible ways to interpret the events that take place, that are equally terrifying, as I did in The Lighthouse before. Any of the three characters is continuously put into doubt in terms of their mental soundness, sincerity and, most importantly, motives. Is it just John who has gone off the rails from the monotony of hibernation? If yes, does that absolve Franks of any blame, or is he as well going insane? Is he the only person who is sound in his mind? Are some of the actions of some of the crew members extreme and real or they are just in John’s imagination? Half of the time where even is John? Where are the rest? Who is right and who believes that they are right?
It might be an easy task aiming to answer the questions posed above but if your head is like most heads, then it might be spinning in circles to the sheer number of questions. If you are like me an oddball looking for something different, slingshot completes you. Mikael Håfström previously directed a movie 1408 and it was a film where reality itself was not that easy to grasp onto. He again allows us to be in control of our imagination and this time around puts us in freaky and disturbing places with rapid cuts, peculiar angles, and a lack of a neutral perspective of any of the events that unfold.
Unlike many vague films, where one possibility is more pronounced and the rest are subplots, here all possibilities are quite valid … for the most part. Let me say that from the start.
I wasn’t sure whether to like Casey Affleck, but after a while, I thought he would never be happy as that character was simply too gloomy. Yet the more one watches him possessing a character that goes through a slow decline, one realizes that the somber parts of his nature are likely to such a disposition that it is incapable of dealing with his mission, which is rather disappointing because one would assume such people should not be leading such missions in the first instance an assumption one is forced to make if one listens to the little information available about his family background. Even his feeble flirtation with the love he has left behind, Emily Beecham (of Cruella), is effective due to the uncertainty that permeates the story.
Laurence Fishburne is a joy to watch, as can be expected, while Tomer Capone adds some chaotic flair that completes this already compelling trio of characters. Even before things take a tumble, you sympathize with their predicament of being alienated and dormant, which is even more tragic and terrifying as their rationality is gradually falling apart, of if any of them is falling apart. I repeat, Slingshot is one of the few works that has so many different interpretative strands … again, in most cases.
I continue citing this disclaimer because Slingshot is in crisis and has no idea when or how it should conclude. In the last ten minutes of the game, there is more than one opportunity for it to botch things up with yet another late introduction, and time and time again, it manages to avert calamity… only to place itself back in harm’s way with yet another last-second alteration that it then circumvents only to again walk the tightrope with another piece of misinformation. There was a time when I was so convinced that the film was going to cut to credits that I began to pack my belongings, and all that happened was the film continued on longer than I would have liked.
To be honest, I do not believe Slingshot does eliminate its ambiguity in a draconian manner, but it certainly makes it harder for me to believe that there is no single definitive interpretation of the events that unfolded. If anything, when it gets to a certain point, I do not think anyone would be able to cry foul, and then it makes itself vulnerable. My contention and suggestion would be that I would have probably increased my rating by half a star if the film had terminated two minutes earlier than it actually did.
But look at the bright side, I only suffered a bit of disillusionment and not total devastation … Feel free to call it desperation. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m hungry for such films.
I had some expectation from Slingshot, but prepared myself for disappointment if it came to that. Instead however, I have to say this is one of the biggest shockers of the year so far for me. Where too many films which are highly appetizing for a brain scrambler fail to live up to the hype, Slingshot takes out all the pain from the premise and lets the chaos be controlled by the chaos. Sadly, I don’t think it is going to get any kudos for that because I watched the film in a completely vacant auditorium. But if you are into space thrillers or psychedelic in general story telling techniques, I suggest you rush to the Las Vegas Strip and catch the first show.
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