In the year 2044, the global population has exploded. There is a shortage of clean water and food. And Earth is dying. It’s a real disaster for law abiding citizens, but what happens if you are a criminal? What rights do you have? Find out on my review of Solitary.
Plot
Solitary will premiere at selected theaters, and on demand on September 24th. Solitary is an Inspired Pictures Production, and High Flyers Films working with Vertical Entertainment. Luke Armstrong wrote and directed the film which stars Johnny Sachon, Lottie Tolhurst and Michael Condron. Isaac Havelock (Jonny Sachon), while trying to pay off his wife’s gambling deaths, is accused of murdering a man. He is innocent, but sent to prison, where he thinks that after time served, he will be free. Unfortunately for Isaac and many other prisoners, the government has some new plans…ship them into outer space and have them work a chain gang on a distant planet. This means they are never coming home.
Isaac, unaware of the new plans, wakes up on a space pod. There is a woman, Alana Skill (Lottie Tolhurst) also on the pod. She only tells Isaac some information, but it isn’t long before he finds out what happened to the ship that was carrying all those prisons pods. The ship exploded. Isaac and Alana must do what they can to stay alive while they wait patiently to be rescued.
Alana
Isaac doesn’t remember how he got on the pod, and Alana is not being totally honest. She tells Isaac that she killed a man, but only laughs when Isaac keeps repeating that he is innocent. It’s a small cast, but Lottie Tolhurst and Johnny Sachon react to the claustrophobic confine of the pod in a very believable manner. One disaster after another happens on the pod, but who is causing these accidents. Alana claims that she doesn’t know how the ship blew up…but her cockiness leads Isaac to keep secrets from her, and wisely so.
Conclusion
Mission control is absolutely useless but thank goodness for the ship’s robot navigator who keeps the pod from crashing into the Earth’s atmosphere. There are forty-nine pods, but no one knows what is going on with them, but Isaac does finally find out Alana’s secret. And it is deadly.
Director Luke Armstrong said that what inspired him to write and direct this film was based on the way the British sent their criminals to Australia and America. That worked when the earth wasn’t dying, but now, the government is trying to thin the herd by shipping criminals into space. It’s a bummer if you happen to be innocent. I was surprised how much I liked Solitary even though it has a slow start, and you are never sure if what we are seeing is a flashback or real time. I would recommend you watch the film when it comes out. Johnny Sachon and Lottie Tolhurst are amazing.
