Pandorum, in the future world of the film, is defined as a severe psychological disorder which afflicts deep space explorers who spend an extended time in hyper-sleep in order to survive long distance star travel. Pandorum causes deep seated paranoia and vividly realistic hallucinations in its victims. Upon awakening from hyper sleep, all space travelers experience disorientation as well as long term and short term memory loss. It is only when the onset of symptoms including hand shaking, nervousness, and erratic behavior do the effects of Pandorum become fully evident.

The year is 2174, and the Earth is dying. Ecological disaster has enveloped the world and the only hope for mankind’s survival is to settle Tanis, the only Earth-like planet discovered in the universe. Enter The Elysium, a cosmic Noah’s Ark which carries what ends up being all that is left of the human race on a deep space mission to settle Tanis and allow humanity to continue to survive. The trip is scheduled to take somewhere in the vicinity of 123 years, so flight crews, agricultural scientists, and other necessary crews and personnel will awaken in shifts to ensure The Elysium's safe arrival. When Cpl. Bower (Ben Foster) and Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) awaken though, they discover a ship that appears to be near derelict and suffering from tremendous power surges. They appear to be alone, but as Bower discovers, they are not. Is he, Payton, or both suffering from Pandorum, or are there other crew members loose on board the ship that are Pandorum stricken? The answers are more horrifying than both of them will imagine.

Cpl. Bower and Lt. Payton (Foster and Quaid)

While somewhat different in tone, not since Danny Boyle’s beautiful and brilliant Sunshine, has there been as taunt and engaging a sci-fi thriller as Pandorum. With Paul W.S. Anderson, who produced The Resident Evil series of movies (and is currently producing another, Resident Evil: Afterlife), and the truly scary Event Horizon, moviegoers are assured a pretty good sci-fi fright fest, but it is Travis Milloy’s screenplay and Christian Alvart’s directing that elevate this film to a higher level than the other films listed above. Alvart, the German born director of Case 39 and Antibodies, both pretty strong (and quite disturbing) chillers themselves, really does a great job of creating visual and emotional projections of the symptoms of the fictional disorder, Pandorum, as well as the industrial hell that is The Elysium. 

Dennis Quaid, who’s always reliable, Ben Foster, who is quickly proving his great amount, as well great depth, of talent (his performance in 3:10 to Yuma is still grossly overlooked), and newcomer to English speaking audiences, Antje Traue (whose beauty Alvart couldn’t hide no matter how much grease, gunk, blood, and muck he dowsed her in) all deliver great performances in their given roles. In the survival of the fittest world that the hallways and decks of the star ship The Elysium have degenerated into, all of the characters are reduced to scratching out a hellish existence that truly only the fittest even have a chance of lasting days, let alone months, and in the case of one survivor, several years.

Nadia (Antje Traue)

What really elevates the film is its allegorical and moral themes, and its, while not incredibly unforeseen, but nevertheless profound twists of plot. If all of the characters survive a hell, pretty much of their own species’ making, they have an opportunity to relive paradise. It’s the surviving that is the near impossible part. There are other ways of looking at this allegorical traversing of hell from psychological, spiritual, and political perspectives, but to do so here would utterly ruin the effect of the aforementioned twists of plot. Pandorum is suggested for intelligent viewers. Don’t let the sci-fi label fool you into thinking it’s throwaway escapism. Wear your thinking caps, if you’re into that sort of thing, when you see it. It’ll enhance the experience.

It can be taken for what it topically appears to be though, and thoroughly enjoyed for the great visual trip it is. The comparisons with Alien are unavoidable, but the amount of industrial grime and sludge, mixed with the viscerally primal imagery makes the film, in some ways, an example of what a 2 hour long Nine Inch Nails music video might be like. It’s dark, moody, claustrophobic (albeit bearably so), and tense. Michl Britsch’s industrial rock inspired soundtrack completes the sensory experience.

Overall, Pandorum, while it may not be a runaway blockbuster at the multiplex, is definitely a well thought out and engaging sci-fi thriller that rises to the top of its genre. It most likely will not break out of its eventual and inevitable cult classic status, but it should.