Stowaway works phenomenally as something which is so detaching yet based in so many different moralities and thought provoking decisions. It tests its characters in the most binding situations and those characters emerge in the most Righteous ways. Its brimming with beauty and a soul and I for one became an instant fan of the movie as I saw it.
And its ending, oh boy, its ending is something which will stay in me in the near future. The sheer beauty, and the brilliant silence by Anna Kendrick in the last 10 minutes of the movie, really seemed to take my breath away. So lets understand what really took place in the ending of the movie, Stowaway.
Stowaway revolves around the problem of oxygen being strained and limited in a place where the only way to thrive of the limited supply is to let one person succumb. There is nothing humanizing about a situation like this but the entire crew of the shuttle are adamant about maintaining that sliver of hope which helps divide this movie from the rest of the numerous space Sci-Fi which are reduced to brutal survival. Nothing wrong with that, but feels fresh to see some uniqueness in this oversaturated niche. So towards the end Zoe Levenson (Played by Anna Kendrick) and the entire team is faced with a defying choice.
One of them have to go and bring the oxygen tank or everyone dies. The catch being, that even is one of them actually goes and brings the cylinder, he / she won’t survive the solar storm filled with high levels of radiations. This is going to be a one way journey for the person who chooses to bring the cylinder to save others. The leader Marina (Played by Toni Colette) is injured and Michael (Played by Shamier Anderson) and David (Played by Daniel Day Kim) are both physically unfit to embark on the climb.
Zoe is the only person who remains and judging by her adamant, compassionate side, she was always going to be the one on this journey. She was written to signify the best in human beings and by stepping out of that shipe one last time (on her own will) she gives meaning to her life which is beyond imaginable and beyond any matter. The memories and her sacrifice are about to give life to three other people, and no other person in their sane mindsets would ever go ahead with this, unless they are driven by pure and Righteous goodness, which Zoe is.
She climbs up as the Green storm of the space penetrates through her suit and creates bruises of radiation throughout her whole body. She feels the pain and experiences brief, fleeting moments of peace and silence as she drops the cylinder in the pod. Marina looks at her from the shuttle window, with tears in her eyes and soul piercing sadness but Zoe looks at her with a sense of accomplishment. Her mission on this journey was left incomplete but in the end it didn’t matter. In the end her mission wasn’t the one she started off with.
As things evolved, so did her passion and so did her values. She chose to pursue the goodness within her and in those final moments, she sits on the shuttle. With radiation seeping through her whole anatomy. Everything is a little more peaceful now, the becomes blurry as she sees the red planet of Mars in front of her. Zoe looks at the planet for one last time as she transcends to another space, forever.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
Stowaway ends on a bleak note, yet it accomplishes something which is deep and full of morality. I had a great time watching this movie and it had a lot of visually mesmerizing moments which kept me hooked and immersed in the dilemma of these four Astronauts who are now seemingly lost in space.
