Sci-Fi

Interview: Lily Sullivan on filming the isolated horror of Monolith; “It was just a very bizarre, anxiety-induced form of meditation.”

It’s been a horrific year for Australian actress Lily Sullivan – and she wouldn’t want it any other way! After surviving the bloody carnage of Evil Dead Rise earlier in 2023, the Queensland-born starlet is capping off the year with another horror entrant, Monolith, but to say it’s far removed from the “groovy” gore of…

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Tribeca Film Festival Review: Ultrasound is a deliberately off-kilter horror/sci-fi hybrid

To claim nothing is as it seems in Rob Schroder‘s Ultrasound would be a vast understatement.  Requiring significant patience and understanding of its components, this horror/science-fiction hybrid begins on one disturbing note before unravelling into something far more psychologically mysterious. It all opens rather straightforward, however off-kilter, with Glen (Vincent Kartheiser) driving home one night…

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Film Review: Voyagers sacrifices its macabre energy for a melodramatic personality

Marketed as “Lord of the Flies in space”, Voyagers – whilst occasionally leaning in to that description – is a confused genre effort that feels like a more reflective, psychological film has been edited down to a tween crowd who may appreciate its melodramatic personality. Written and directed by Neil Burger, his first original script…

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Film Review: Ascendant harnesses its strength through its ability to surprise with both its story and psychology

Ascendant is one of those films that’s equally as difficult to write about it as it is deceptively simple.  A film that banks entirely on the fact that it unravels and reveals its narrative in an unexpected manner, Antaine Furlong‘s ambitious sci-fi-leaning action/thriller is a testament to the first time Australian filmmaker’s bold vision and…

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Film Review: Tabernacle 101 is a frustrating experience that never feels remotely organic

Watching a film like Tabernacle 101 is a frustrating experience.  On the one hand, the Australian-made, low (and I mean low) budget sci-fi piece deserves some admiration for the mere fact that it has managed to snare itself a US theatrical release, however limited it may be (it played the first week in September in…

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The second season of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is brilliantly bizarre television

Already brimming with time travel and eccentric characters, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency had a particular type of strangeness to maintain when going into the second season. At the helm of Max Lendis, Dirk Gently is finally back on our screens in an addictive second season – currently screening on Netflix – that features a…

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Actors Kellan Lutz, Teagan Croft and Director Shane Abbess talk about their new sci-fi film The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One

A gripping new sci-fi film is about to hit our screens thanks to the genius work of director and screenwriter Shane Abbess. The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One follows the emotional struggles and warfare of a world in peril. With a strong Aussie cast shining through and Hollywood superstar Kellan Lutz in a leading role, there are plenty…

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Film Review: Ridley Scott tugs on existential threads with Alien: Covenant (USA, 2017)

2012’s Prometheus marked the beginning of a franchised prequel to Ridley Scott’s original Alien, not only taking fans back to the origins of this iconic sci-fi franchise, but diving deeper into the meaty philosophies such a concept brings, finding purpose with the motif of creation. The introduction of synthetic android David (Michael Fassbender) emerged as…

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Uncertainty and mystery lurks for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in Passengers‘ debut trailer

The first official trailer for the anticipated film Passengers, a romantic science fiction adventure starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, has been released. The trailer depicts a future where humanity has made great advances in space travel and space transport. The Spaceship Avalon  soars silently through the emptiness of space on its 120-year voyage to a planet called…

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DVD Review: Plus One (USA, 2013)

+1 or Plus One is the sci-fi horror brainchild of Dennis Iliadis. Though its original release flashed by us at the 2013 SXSW festival, Illiadis felt the production was rushed for festival screening and has since tweaked it for international release. The story takes a rapid-fire spin on horror films and the concept of identity….

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Film Review: Jupiter Ascending (M) (USA/Australia, 2015)

When The Wachowskis make a new film, we take notice. There is this endless desire we have as film fanatics that we’ll see them pull out something as impressive as their classic sci-fi film The Matrix. Time and time again fans and critics are disappointed, as proven by fairly low Rotten Tomatoes scores, poor word…

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