The feature film Voidance from director Marianna Dean, out now on streaming, is a cleverly conceived mix of science fiction and the whodunnit, a rare beast I struggle to recall encountering before. After a richly scored, CGI-soaked opening credits, we are introduced to Alana (Zoe Cunningham), an agent in training for ATIC Off World, an elite security force in space.
She is briefed by her superior, Agent Polo (the ever-wonderful James Cosmo) and assigned to unearth a possible conspiracy from some insurrectionists. She is dropped into what is effectively a space bar, well realized here as the sort of lived-in galactic environment that’s been the stock in trade of Star Wars for years.
However, things aren’t as simple as that. She fluffs her mission, and the whole environment just resets. It turns out she is in a simulation with a limited number of attempts left to accomplish the mission and earn her place in ATIC.
As Alana perpetually re-enters the simulation, we gradually learn more about the universe we are in, mostly through the various patrons at the bar, but try as she might, she can’t seem to win the scenario. Before long, she is running out of attempts. Then this concern starts getting eclipsed by another; she is led to doubt what she knows about the galactic peacekeeping force she is so obsessed with qualifying for.
Voidance gets an awful lot right for a low-budget film. The universe feels pretty sound from the ground up, with clever and inventive touches from writer Simon Frederick, who does well by and large. There are a few off-color choices, though; a plot device is referred to as a ‘superpowered popper,’ and Alanna refers to her mission as being ‘On the job,’ which means all types of dirty business in the UK where this was made. Then there is the frankly mental exchange between Alanna and two freighter pilots, which she deduces from the tans they have picked up ‘cruising close to suns.’ But one is black, and the other is paler than moonlight.
“She fluffs her mission and the whole environment just resets.”
The dialogue is otherwise strong, especially the constant and mysterious refrain of ‘Do you worship the Shah?” asked throughout at gunpoint as a kind of binary cast disposal system. However, the plotting soon becomes hard to follow, with a large cast in play.
The performances are enjoyable across the board. Dean energizes everyone in a big cast with impressive brio. It’s largely faultless. Cunningham works as the lead, though her part is passive, constantly outweighed by the shifting exterior landscape she is repeatedly navigating.
The execution is very game indeed, not least the superb costuming by Ciéranne Kennedy Bell, which would not look out of place in a film with many more times the money to play with. The production design by Jamie Foote is very strong, and I came away curious about how they achieved it all.
The designs set the right mood. The walls of the space bar look like poured concrete, which is an unusual and bold choice for a space station. Was it extruded from a 3D printer, or is the bar in an asteroid or something? It looks good.
As the film progresses, allegory and current affairs are drawn on well. A shadowy figure called ‘The Shah’ looms wonderfully; his outline, plot-wise, is something like that of Alfred Hitchcock’s in doodle form, only it’s Trump.
Voidance is a mixed bag then, but it has lots of talent it respects and manages well, and it punches comfortably above its weight. It’s just a shame it’s so hard to follow. Also, when a film teases the specter of metaphysical oil wrestling in space with Donald Trump, you can’t help but expect a lot.
"…punches comfortably above it’s weight..."
