Impact0619

Services Film at St Review Chad’s
Passengers (2016)
Directed by Morten Tyldum
did you give up
your life on earth?’
The trailer for
Passengers poses
‘Why
this question.
Passengers is a science-fiction/
romance film starring Oscar
winning actress Jennifer Lawrence
(Silver Linings Playbook, The
Hunger Games series, American
Hustle) and Chris Pratt (Guardians
of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie,
Jurassic World). Aurora Lane
(Lawrence) and Jim Preston (Pratt)
are two of 5,000 passengers on the
spaceship Avalon, which is on its
120-year long trip to Homestead
Two, a planet colonised by
humanity. Along with the 250 crew
members, the passengers are held
in hibernation until the final few
months of the journey in the fully
automated and technologically
advanced Avalon. However,
something goes wrong with Avalon,
causing Aurora and Jim, to wake
up 90 years early. And they can’t
go back to sleep.
All good films ask questions, and
this film asks many. The first, and
probably most obvious, is, why?
Why would someone choose to
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence
in Passengers
leave Earth and move to another
planet? Would you? People love
to go on holiday and experience
something new, something
different. But this film is not talking
about a short trip to somewhere
else on Earth: this is a one-way
ticket to another planet. Not
only that, but to another century.
Boarding the Avalon means leaving
behind everything apart from
yourself: your planet, your country,
your city, your home, your friends,
your family. Those on the Avalon
have all chosen to do this, none
have been forced into it. As space
travel becomes possible (at a price)
to the public, as global population
continues to increase, as our planet
suffers under the damage humanity
has caused it, will these be actual
decisions in humanity’s future?
The film asks several other key
questions, most of which can not
be shared here without revealing
spoilers. But one that can be
revealed is ‘how do we deal with
disappointment?’ Both Aurora and
Jim have to decide how to live
their lives trapped on a space ship.
This is not what they signed up for.
Passengers not only succeeds as a
film by asking poignant questions,
but by focusing on the development
of the characters as they battle with
their new-found, unplanned and
‘unfair’ existence.
The cast of Passengers is
tiny, but the impact of the film is
huge. The whole film is beautifully
shot and it sucks you in to its
world using Oscar nominated art
direction and music. It makes you
a passenger alongside Aurora and
Jim, challenging you with questions
of ethics, life, death, sacrifice and
love.
Passengers is currently available
to watch on Netflix.
Rev James Norris
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Office: Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 20
email: office@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org