It there life on Mars? Or more specifically, on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. And that’s where we are off to for Day ‘E’ of the Alphabet challenge…

This 2013 film by director Sebastian Cordero is a fictional tale of 6 astronauts on a mission to reach Europa and conduct tests to answer that very question.

Early on in the film, we learn that as a result of a ‘solar storm’, the ship lost all communications with Earth.  The crew continues and makes it to a landing on Europa, albeit slightly away from the originally targeted area.  From this, they begin to try and investigate Europa and its mysteries…

The film is set up as a part documentary review, and part ‘found footage’ compilation to tell the tale of their journey. Traditionally lower budget (this was below $10m in total) science fiction films can be a dicey game (although Moon was a perfect example of what can be achieved when done well), but this film manages to do a decent amount with what its got.

A good example is the cast. There’s no ‘big name’ but instead there is a solid group of actors from around the globe that are each very capable. The best example being Michael Nyqvist who was the original Mikael Blomqvist in the Swedish versions of the Millennium trilogy (Girl with Dragon Tattoo etc).

Ultimately its neither ‘Moon’ nor ‘Gravity’ but its a solid enough film with an interesting story that is well delivered.

6/10