Sooner or later it seems like every well-known actor dons a spacesuit and heads into the stratosphere. In Stowaway, it's the turn of Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim and Toni Collette, who board a shuttle for a two-year research mission to Mars. Yet 12 hours into their journey, Collette's Commander Marina Barnett finds an unconscious man (Wynonna Earp's Shamier Anderson) in the life-support system, and from there events spiral out of control as the crew realizes there isn't enough oxygen on the ship for all four of them. The film is a deliberately paced but nail-biting examination of how each of the four responds to the news and the decisions they make as a result, leading to an intense tale of good people in impossible circumstances.
Directed by Joe Penna, who wrote the script with Ryan Morrison, Stowaway unfolds in the near future, when a company called Hyperion regularly sends manned space flights to Mars. Although Commander Barnett is a seasoned astronaut, Kendrick's medical researcher Zoe Levenson and Kim's biologist David Kim are researchers who trained just enough to make it through the mission. Then there's the title character, Michael Adams, a launch support engineer accidentally knocked out and wounded before take-off, who is overwhelmed by his surroundings once he regains consciousness.
The discovery of Michael raises questions about shoddy protocols and cutting corners, but neither the crew nor the movie is concerned with that. Instead, they focus on how to make sure his presence isn't simply a drain on resources. Initially, the crew welcomes Michael, healing his wounds and finding ways for him to help. But the revelation that their life-support systems are damaged beyond repair changes the calculus, and each character has a different perspective on what should happen next, leading to disagreements about the time they take, and the options they exhaust, before they make a decision that will end someone's life. Despite that, there are no bad guys here; they're four well-meaning people making the best choices they can in an increasingly dire situation.
That every one of the characters is likable and sympathetic makes Stowaway especially suspenseful, drawing the viewer into the crew's debate about what they can and should do, given the reality that at least one of them probably won't make it to Mars. The quartet of actors turn in thoughtful, smart performances, and the movie gives each of them moments to establish individual humanity. Therefore, even when one of them does something morally questionable, their reasons are understandable. It's Kendrick, however, who serves as the beating heart of the film, and she deploys her friendly charisma in a way that makes the early scenes lighter and more enjoyable and heightens the suspense once events go wrong.
Although the film's main focus isn't zero-g action or space adventure, Stowaway gets suspenseful, including a heart-pounding set piece outside the ship. As the four people on board do what they can to save all of their lives, the situation becomes increasingly intense, so much so that even the smallest setback feels huge. However, the provocative philosophical debate that takes up the majority of the movie falls apart in the end, creating a conclusion that's the result of luck as much as the need to make an impossible decision. It, therefore, feels like a bit of a cop-out. Of course, Stowaway presents the kind of dilemma that will never have a satisfactory conclusion; still, the audience may wish the filmmakers had followed it all the way through, even at the risk of leaving some viewers dissatisfied.
Overall, though, Stowaway is a gripping, emotionally compelling meditation on life and what it means to act toward the greater good. While the space setting gives it an extra layer of excitement, ultimately it's the film's deeply human themes that make it gripping, creating a resonant story we can all identify with.
Directed and co-written by Joe Penna, Stowaway stars Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson and Toni Collette. The film is now available on Netflix.