Thursday, January 24, 2019

IO Netflix Movie Review

IO (2019)
Watch IO on Netflix
Written by: Clay Jeter & Charles Spano & Will Basanta (written by)
Directed by: Jonathan Helpert
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie, Danny Huston
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In this sci-fi film, a teenage girl is one of the last survivors on a post-cataclysmic Earth and must decide whether to stay or board a space shuttle and join a distant colony.

Verdict
It's a hollow movie.  I don't even know what to say about it as there isn't a lot that happens. The writing is shaky, the characters are boring, and the ending is a failed attempt at... whatever this movie was going for. It's a start to an idea that is underdeveloped and unfinished.
Skip it.

Review
I like post apocalypse movies. With IO, it was clear from the opening that part of the problem is that it has a low budget. While a modest budget can force creativity, that's not what happened here. The introduction is a lot of exposition through voice over while showing us nothing. That talk sets up the background which is basically the Earth is no longer habitable.

Sam is a lone scientist trying to live on an inhospitable planet. One of the coolest parts of the movie is the introduction of Anthony Mackie's character who arrives on a hot air balloon. We get facts and background about the characters. There's a redemption arc. Both characters have a past that shapes who they are, but I never cared.

The ending is a question of can humans still survive on Earth despite all the evidence to the contrary. It didn't really sell me.

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