Oxygen

Despite all the surprising events of the film, something is missing that would make me want to watch it a second time, but it is definitely a good film. It could be ten to fifteen minutes longer, because at the end, in addition to the main protagonist, the story also runs out of breath. Mélanie Laurent is excellent, Alexandre Aja uses the cramped space of the cryochamber in such a way that you do not get bored, and I really enjoyed the unpredictable computer MILO, which can execute almost any command, but only after it is properly told about it. One may guess the point, but it's mainly about the atmosphere, and it's great. (2021-05-13)

Alexandre Aja has proven more than once that he's a talented filmmaker. While he usually sticks to genre films, he does it really well. I also appreciate how he’s shifted from horror to sci-fi, especially in this more intimate, confined setting. That’s something I really value. Creating an hour-and-a-half story about an astronaut waking up in a cryo-chamber and keeping the tension high the whole time is no small feat. The film also benefits from an outstanding performance by Mélanie Laurent and a soundtrack that, combined with the visuals, works wonders. A solid piece of work! (2021-05-14)

The first “point” occurs to you in the first few minutes, in a one-second flashback from the hospital, and the second comes about an hour later. Overall, the film is a jigsaw puzzle of familiar sci-fi and thriller motifs in which you will also find improbabilities in the logic (the development of the dialogue with artificial intelligence). Or, rather, you would find them if you wanted to seek them out, which you don’t, because it’s quite nice to watch – Aja’s directing is at a high level as usual, Mélanie puts in the work, and the last quarter of the film is a sci-fi visual caress. (2021-05-16)

A claustrophobic, catastrophic sci-fi about a bio-form in a cryogenic box. Bewitching visuals, thrilling conversations with the sleazy voice of Mathieu Amalrica and relatively surprising plot twists are among the main attractions of Oxygen. It turns out that Aja doesn’t restrict himself to blood baths, but he also has a talent for storytelling. Want some sedative? (2021-05-12)

This is a minimalist thriller about being buried alive in a typically Poe-esque fashion, this time situated in the world of science fiction. It does not come even close to the qualities of Rodrigo Cortés's thriller Buried, which was a real conversation piece and came a whole decade earlier. Here, the screenwriter hides the banal plot behind cheap tricks, such as memory loss and the gradual revealing of things the audience can guess a few, sometimes even tens of minutes before they are revealed in the movie. In the last quarter of the movie, it is sort of pleasing to see the broader backdrop in which the action takes place. But all in all, it did not take my breath away at all. (2021-05-17)