Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SETTLERS [Tribeca Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]
The texture of survival and necessity filters in an idea of human dignity and emotional resonance. "Settlers" [Online World Premiere] is an interesting parable in that it paints Mars as a different approach if it is actually the planet itself. It ight be a metaphor of the mind. The idea is based almost like the aspect of America and the frontier but with less diabolical structure and more simply viciousness in the face of survival. We don't know quite what happened but it clear that there is a problem with Earth. An atmosphere has been set up on Mars but there is something wrong with that. So there is a problem with Mars. Therefore it is what humanity has created. The place is not really of interest though it provides that sci-fi bridge which is oddly enough humanized the most by the character of "Steve" [which is not what you think] in a very specific point. The film initially follows a family with Jonny Lee Miller [almost unrecognizable], Sofia Boutella [in her most actor accentuated role yet] and Brooklyn Prince as their young daughter. An aspect of frontier (or maybe in this case, post frontier) battles causes a shift in tone. Giving much more away would ruin the twist that is key to the movie.
Boutella's Isla is interesting because she knows what she needs to survive, she knows her own needs, but she also has to think of her daughter. Ismael Cruz Cordova has a hard approach to his role as Jerry because no matter which way he approaches it, the character is always going to be wrong. The actor who shines in many ways is Nell Tiger Free who plays the grown up version of Prince's character (she is also the mysterious woman in the Apple TV+ series "Servant"). She is utterly effective because she is strong yet borken, vicious when needed and yet metered . Again it is a delicate balance to walk but the sheer trauma versus what this world and this life is informs the character richly. It is an education in minimalism across the board but it is never boring and yet resolutely absolute. "Settlers" has a bleakness and a hope to it. There is intelligence to it and yet the movie is dissertation on the primal and its necessary response. B+
By Tim Wassberg
