The Osiris Child is far from being an excellent hidden gem, and I have no doubt that many will find it boring. It’s not for everyone. But for those
who immediately realize that it’s trying to channel the low-budget science
fiction films of old, they will find the old-school familiarity it’s
emitting to be somewhat endearing despite its flaws. And, apparently, it’s kicking off a series – either an anthology or a shared universe – of throwback scifi B movies; its full title
is Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris
Child (alternately, The Osiris Child:
Science Fiction Volume One).
The story follows Lt. Kane
(Daniel MacPherson), a military pilot working for a company that terraforms and
colonizes planets. In the current planet
he’s working on, he brings along his daughter (Teagan Croft) with him. But this proves to be a mistake. He soon learns that the company is also
secretly developing monsters that are meant to be used in purging the native
inhabitants of planets they intend to terraform, and these murderous creatures have been accidentally
let loose on the planet. Worse, the
company’s solution to this is to nuke the surface, annihilating monsters and
humans alike, under the pretense that a major jailbreak has led prisoners to get their hands on a deadly bioweapon and are holding the planet hostage. Desperate to get to his
daughter and bring her to safety before the time is up, Kane treks the vast
wasteland and asks the help of an escaped convict named Sy (Kellan Lutz).
An interesting aspect of this
movie is how it does a non-linear, Tarantino-style narrative structure, where it’s
divided into chapters, switching between the present and past to flesh out the
characters and the plot. However, the
storytelling isn’t as seamless, smooth, and purposeful as when Quentin
Tarantino does it.
Visually and conceptually, there’s
a lot to be impressed about this movie, considering it’s a small-scale
production and all. There’s a really cool dogfight
sequence. The look of the monsters is like something taken out of the
80’s or 90’s, in a good way. And it features technology and tropes that sell
its futuristic setting well.
But considering what it’s going
for, clichés can’t be helped. And it
feels a bit pretentious and sluggish at times.
Nonetheless, as a whole, it offers enough to
please genre fans.
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