This science fiction film from filmmaker Shane Abbess meshes the future with the backstory of one of its main characters.
Living on a planet and serving as one of its top ranking military officers, Lt. Kane Sommerfield is overjoyed when his daughter Indi comes to visit him while her mother, Kane’s ex, is on Earth. For a while, things are fine. That is, until Kane learns that the place he has now called home, is on the verge of an outbreak. A band of monsters have colonized the area and the higher authorities have decided to wipe out the area.
When Kane is separated from Indi, he gets even more bad news that a band of prisoners have escaped and en route to stop the prisoners, Kane is forced to land. There he meets one of the prisoners, Sy Lombrok. At firt, Sy threatens to kill Kane and go off on his own. However, when Kane mentions he must rescue his daughter and promises that he knows of a military bunker that they will all be kept safe in, Sy agrees to help. The two soon find themselves joined by two local rednecks, Bill and Gyp. Together, they plan to retrieve Indi and get to the bunker as time begins to run out.
Filmmaker Shane Abbess comes up with a very interesting sci-fi thriller that, rather than play it straight through, meshes more of a flashback tale and combine it with a juxtaposition involving one of the main characters. In other words, Abbess creates a film that upon watching it, should not be missed for even a second or it just might not make sense.
Using a chapter motif to flesh out the story, the odd-numbered chapters bring us to the story of an unlikely pair of heroes, a defected military officer and an escaped prisoner as they intend to rescue the officer’s daughter and head towards a possible safety zone in the form of a military bunker. Daniel McPherson’s Kane is the concerned dad who having just reunited with his young daughter, must retrieve her as they are separated amid learning that the planet he calls home is about to be obliterated. Kellan Lutz’s Sy is the escaped prisoner who seems to be more than everyone expects and in fact, it is his backstory that makes up the even-numbered chapters, told surprisingly in a backward order of sorts.
Bring ample support with a bit of comic relief to quell the seriousness of the story are the pair of Bill and Gyp, played respectively by Luke Ford and Isabel Lucas. Those familiar with franchise films will remember Ford as the adult son of Brendan Fraser’s character in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor while Lucas made quite an impact in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, making Shia LeBeouf scream like a little girl when her true nature is revealed. Here, they play redneck-like stepsiblings who become the pair’s most trusted allies in their time of need and do their best to help them and get sympathy from the pair when they reveal their origins en route to the bunker.
While it is unclear where the inhabiting monsters, The Ragged, have come from that cause the outbreak, they look quite nasty in this film, looking like the love children of Shin Godzilla and perhaps, Gamera, with the exception they are not kaiju-sized. However, as the film goes on, it is clear that the monsters are not the only enemy our heroes have, but rather the stern-faced government, led by Rachel Griffiths, who makes it clear that at any cost, the planet will have to go down. What will shock everyone who gets through this is the final chapter of the film, which revolves around the aftermath one year later and it is quite a mind-blowing finale.
In conclusion, The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One is truly a great sci-fi film that not only makes good use of its chapter motif and cast performances, but the finale is quite shocking and while some may see it ridiculous, others may find it jaw-dropping. And this is just the beginning.
WFG RATING: A-
RLJE Films presents a Storm Vision Entertainment production in association with Eclektic Vision, Storm Alley Entertainment, and Cutting Edge. Director: Shane Abbess. Producers: Matthew Graham, Brett Thornquist, Shane Abbess, and Sidonie Abbene. Writer: Shane Abbess; story by Abbess and Brian Cachia. Cinematography: Carl Robertson. Editing: Adrian Rostirolla.
Cast: Kellan Lutz, Daniel McPherson, Teagan Croft, Luke Ford, Isabel Lucas, Bren Foster, Rachel Griffiths, Temuera Morrison, Dwaine Stevenson, Grace Huang, Firass Dirani.
RLJE Films have currently released this title on DirectTV and will be released in select theaters, VOD, and Digital HD on October 6.
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