Set in 2019, The Beyond chronicles the groundbreaking mission which sent astronauts – modified with advanced robotics, through a newly discovered wormhole known as the Void. When the mission returns unexpectedly, the space agency races to discover what the astronauts encountered on their first of its kind interstellar space journey.
The Beyond stars David Bailie, Jane Perry, and Brian Deacon and was written and directed by Hasraf Dulull. I was very excited when this film popped up on my radar. I absolutely love the sci-fi horror genre; it’s my favourite next to the creature feature.
The Beyond, from the trailer, seemed to be exactly what I needed to sate my desire for sci-fi fueled fun. What I got instead was something very, very different.
The film is shot like a documentary, which makes it a very different watch from the others of its genre. This is an obvious attempt to try and break free from the mould of the films that have come before.
The sets, acting, budget, editing, cinematography; all very indicative of a decent budget. It’s well constructed and one can see that there was a real attempt to push the envelope.
The part that frustrated me most was the lack of action and excitement. The fact that it's a “documentary,— for all intents and purposes, removes the suspense that usually goes hand in hand with the sci-fi horror flick. It's very matter-of-fact and focuses far more on the tech side of the story and the interpersonal relationships of the cast. It's very, very different from what I was expecting to sit down to watch. Not bad, by any means, but not what I was looking forward to. I can very much appreciate the unique direction that was taken, and I am a fan of scientific documentaries, but the meshing of the two was an odd experience.
The film takes an unexpected but not unwelcomed turn it the last act. The ending did well to leave me with a better impression overall, but it still remains a very peculiar production…a production that is probably not going to amass any form of cult following. I have very mixed feelings about the movie overall. Was I entertained? Yes, it held my attention. Did I get what I wanted? No…I felt, for lack of a better word, cheated. Also, there was no horror element to the film whatsoever, which kind of pissed me off as the film is labeled as a horror sci-fi on IMDb. There are no comparisons I can use to rate the film nor any similar productions to compare it to, though the plot is something vaguely reminiscent of Contact (1997), with a handful of borrowed ideas from other films.
I’d say it’s better than a lot of the cheese that comes out of SyFy, but not by very much. I’d have to say that it fell below par for me and I am gonna have to give it two stars. You’re only really going to enjoy this film if you are a big nerd and also enjoy documentaries. Catch the trailer below and as always, stay sordid.
