A Girl and an Astronaut Review: Between “High” Inspirations and Fallible Characters
Cast: Jędrzej Hycnar, Jakub Sasak, Vanessa Alexander
Director: Brett Morgen
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 2/5 (two stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
A Girl and an Astronaut, a 6-episode Polish Netflix series, sci-fi mixed with love. A story about a woman caught up in a love triangle of astronauts competing to be the real ones on a space mission. But then one of them got lost on a 30-year mission in outer space. He returned to Earth without aging. And finds out that his lover already has a family with a former heart rival. A Girl And An Astronaut is the first Polish science fiction series from Netflix, scripted by Agata Malesinska and directed by Bartosz Prokopowicz, grappling with the arduous challenge of combining an important narrative with a noteworthy visual rendering, something that Polish productions it is usually not granted due to lack of substantial budgets. Will the space journey that this duo wants to offer to the public live up to their (and our) expectations? We find out in this review of A Girl And An Astronaut.
A Girl and an Astronaut Review: The Story Plot
In 2022, Nikodem (Jędrzej Hycnar) and Bogdan (Jakub Sasak) are F-16 pilots and best friends. But their bond will be tested when they meet Marta (Vanessa Alexander) and they begin a personal and professional competition to see which of them will fly into space as part of a Russian test. It will be Niko who wins this honor which, however, will have unexpected consequences for all three protagonists when, due to a malfunction, Niko gets lost in space. Parallel to these events, we move to 2025 when, thirty years later, Magda and Bodan are married, after Niko has precisely disappeared during the space mission. He was rumored to be dead, but the capsule with him on board is found by the Russians, who were also co-organizers of the whole affair.
The narration of A Girl And An Astronaut, therefore, moves on two levels, whose contrast on an emotional and temporal level is – all too much – highlighted. The past is cited by bright colors, and it is a selection of moments in which the protagonists are shown to us happy, full of energy, and carefree. The present is, on the contrary, painted in gray and opaque colors. Despite the discovery of new technologies and the development of artificial intelligence that makes life easier, the characters are not happy at all. how constantly checked and dissatisfied. They can’t enjoy the present life and can’t help but think back to their colorful past.
A Girl and an Astronaut Review and Analysis
The theme of romance and the answer to the question repeatedly investigated by science fiction – whether love has an expiration date – are brought to the fore in the narration of A Girl And An Astronaut. The space journey and the mysterious return of Niko are just a pretext to present the love triangle in which the protagonists find themselves. Therefore, if you were hoping for a proper sci-fi series, you might be disappointed. Here, love has more relevance than space, which is a shame, because the storyline of Niko’s mysterious disappearance and his equally enigmatic return to Earth would have had much more potential, which was not exploited, relegating him to the role of background for the romantic story the creators had already carefully prepared.
As far as the technology sector is concerned, the world-building of A Girl And An Astronaut does not particularly stand out among other productions of the genre, however, some details are worth praising considering that it was given life with certain limited financial resources. Yes, the special effects leave something to be desired and we cannot fail to notice the artificiality of the aerial and acrobatic sequences, but it is certainly something that we would have left in the background if the plot of the series had been slightly less predictable.
As far as the acting choices are concerned, we can consider them all in all adequate; indeed, the only point of contact between the viewer and the series are its characters who, although they are the subjects of mostly absurd plots, still manage to attest to their presence on the screen. We are referring primarily to Vanessa Alexander, whose Marta has a strong character and an underlying youthful innocence, which the actress manages to channel above all on an expressive level. Even the two lovers, played by Jędrzej Hycnar and Jakub Sasak, manage to step into the shoes of totally stereotypical characters: swaggering, furiously ambitious pilots, eager to always win.
Above all for its strong male presence, A Girl And An Astronaut evoke from the very first minutes associations with Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun (after all, the protagonists are an elite group of F-16 pilots), on the other images from Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (space travel, return to Earth after decades) come to mind. There is also a lot of the atmosphere of Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning The Shape of Water (metaphorical underwater scenes), combining elements of romantic and fantastic cinema, a story about the power of feelings, and the value of friendship and loyalty. However, it’s a pity that the directors of A Girl And An Astronaut failed to combine all these inspirations into a cohesive whole. It is worth appreciating the courage of the directors.
As for the futuristic scenes, which are cheesy in the story, they try to simulate a city in the future that the vision doesn’t look like. Like the characters still use mobile devices to do things. or drones that are used often, still look like drones in this era. The laboratory setting was more like an underground cavern than this actual astronaut project laboratory. All of this doesn’t make me believe that this is the year 2052 as the story suggests.
In conclusion, this is a rather messed up sci-fi series with a dirty love triangle with quite a lot of erotic sex scenes. Showing meat, milk, and eggs until it’s more like an erotic movie Mysterious sci-fi plot just to paste. deceiving people to watch only. But almost the entire story is circling with the current world, 2022, rather than the future that has been put in a tiny bit because there is no budget. but still want to do Which doesn’t work at all. Don’t try to do it, it’s better if it comes out like this.
A Girl and an Astronaut Review: The Last Words
A rather messed up sci-fi series with a rotten love triangle with quite a lot of erotic sex scenes. Showing meat, milk, and eggs until it’s more like an erotic movie Mysterious sci-fi plot just to paste. deceiving people to watch only. But almost the whole story is circling with the current world, 2022, rather than the future that has been put in a tiny bit because there is no budget. but still want to do Which doesn’t work at all. Don’t try to do it, it’s better if it comes out like this. By aiming too high at a practically elusive mix of science fiction and romance, A Girl And An Astronaut reveals its weakness: structural, technical, and emotional.
