Inspired by ‘Star Trek,’ Leni Lauritsch’s Space Thriller ‘Rubikon’ Grapples With Questions of Ethics and Morality
02.10.2022 - 12:03
/ variety.com
Ed Meza @edmezavar In Leni Lauritsch’s gritty sci-fi thriller “Rubikon,” the final frontier could well be humankind’s last refuge. The film, which stars Julia Franz Richter, Georg Blagden (“Versailles”) and Mark Ivanir, screens in the Zurich Film Festival’s Focus Competition. Set in a dark future in which a polluted and barely sustainable Earth is plagued by corporate armies battling for depleting resources as the wealthy live in air domes that protect them from the contaminated atmosphere, the story centers on three astronauts aboard the space station Rubikon, where scientists have developed a possible means of survival, a sustainable algae project to provide oxygen and food.
When a mysterious and highly toxic fog begins to envelop the planet, the crew has to decide whether to risk their lives and return to Earth in an effort to rescue survivors or remain safe aboard the self-sufficient station.
Inspired in part by “Star Trek” (particularly “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Voyager” and “Enterprise” era), the psychological thriller deals not only with spaceflight and environmental catastrophe, but also with philosophical questions of morality, pragmatism, survival and sacrifice. “‘Star Trek’ was something I grew up with,” says Lauritsch. In her film, the Austrian director sought to explore similar philosophical themes and struggles that often made for riveting television aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. And like classic ‘Trek,’ the action would be limited to the ship, in part for budgetary reasons, and focus on a story that had “to be carried by plot points, by character work.” “I wanted it to be like a psychological play situation that happens to take part among a crew on a space ship. You cannot really do it
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