General release in US cinemas; in UK cinemas from 21 October
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FOR a good example of what European science fiction has to offer, you need look no further than , a beautifully crafted film that premiered at the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary film festival in July.
It is set in a dystopian world where Earth’s ecosystems have totally collapsed as a result of an unspecified catastrophe. Many people now have disabilities and live in medieval-looking villages, where violence is spread and encouraged.
At the centre of the story is 13-year-old Vesper (Raffiella Chapman, pictured above), who is struggling to survive. Her father Darius (Richard Brake) is paralysed, but he can accompany Vesper everywhere via a drone that is a vessel for his mind and voice.
Vesper meets a mysterious young woman, Camellia (Rosy McEwen), who fled from the Citadel, a secluded community where people lead comfortable, pre-disaster lives. With Camellia’s help, Vesper plans to leave for the Citadel in search of a cure for her father. Meanwhile Darius’s brother Jonas (Eddie Marsan) does his best to ruin her plans.
Even though Vesper draws heavily on tropes from sci-fi classics, such as Children of Men and The Hunger Games, this co-production pulls them together in a wholly distinct way. The two directors create a Grimms’ Fairy Tales atmosphere, with archetypal characters and a linear narrative that contributes to an overall feeling of unease.
Visually, the film astonishes, as art director Raimondas Dičius and production designer Ramūnas Rastauskas craft a universe where remnants of the natural world coexist with basic tech and biohacking. And cinematographer Feliksas Abrukauskas creates gorgeous interiors, recalling masterworks by 17th-century Dutch painters with beautiful chiaroscuro effects.
Vesper is timely, with direct and indirect nods to climate change: one of its most powerful scenes is a reminder not to take the natural beauty we still enjoy for granted. Reading an old book full of marvellous creatures that once inhabited Earth – cats, owls, parrots and wolves – Vesper and Camellia mimic their calls in a moment of sheer joy and amazement.
