Paradox Alice Trailer Involves A Doomed Spacecrew And A Gender-Switching Astronaut
This article is more than 2 years old
You guys know we can’t go more than a few days without bringing you a trailer from some indie sci-fi that you’ll probably never hear about again. But we’ve got our fingers crossed for Paradox Alice, whose trailer, seen above, manages to combine a surreal-but-interesting story with some of the most hilarious-looking images of a flying spaceship I’ve seen in a while. But that’s almost a good thing, because I don’t need to worry about these filmmakers trying to prove to me that this film is better than it is. Does that make sense?
For instance, I can’t wait to see Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity this weekend, and I’m pretty sure I’ll love it. But if I didn’t, I’d still have Cuarón’s massive ambition in my face, telling me that I should be wowed at all times. Paradox Alice looks like the kind of movie that you passively gloss over until you’re desperate, and then there’s a pleasant surprise waiting. That might sound a little insulting, but it’s how my brain works. And for all I know, this could be a steaming pile, so I might be giving it the unearned benefit of the doubt. Just like The Last Days on Mars.
Paradox Alice is set a few decades in the future, when a crew is sent on a dangerous mission in the U.S.S. Red Queen. They’re traveling to the moon of Europa to retrieve water and bring it back to Earth, which is dying from shortages of the stuff. Their mission done, they are on their way back home when two very unpredictable things happen. First, earth’s nuclear stockpiles all activate, and the planet basically nukes itself, so the crew has nowhere to go. Secondly, one of the male crew members inexplicably transforms into a woman, and they keep him/her under surveillance to make sure he/she isn’t infected. Kaboom! Directed by Eric Dapkewicz, who co-wrote with David Babbitt, the film stars Jeneta St. Clair, Stewart W. Calhoun, Ethan Sharrett, Amy Lindsay, Sandra Staggs, Jack Brand, Liz Stewart, Andrew Hernon, and Tansy Alexander.
I’m not fooled here. Absolutely nothing about this movie looks scientifically sound, like the somewhat similar Europa Report managed to achieve. It’s ridiculous to think a single mission to Europa would bring enough water back to the planet for the mission to have been worth financing in the first place, especially on a “dying Earth.” And I’m pretty sure no bacteria or other kind of space disease is capable of changing a person’s gender.
But I don’t care. For some reason, I’m willing to give this movie a free pass for now, at least until I see it for myself. One thing that’s certainly noteworthy is that the film is getting its VOD release on October 15th, with a DVD release to follow. But it’s been a year and a half since the film had its limited theatrical run, so I wonder what the holdup has been.
Below are the film’s original trailer and poster.
