What’s it about?

Earth is dying, and our only hope of a new home is 86 years away. 10 years into the journey, the crew spiral out of control as they give in to their base impulses.

What did we think?

Peter Linning says: Voyagers wastes no time in setting up its premise and getting the ball rolling.

Bred in a lab and raised in sterile conditions, the crew of young astronauts have no ties to Earth but will never see humanity’s new home. To circumvent the existential despair that accompanies their situation, they are medicated to dull their aggression and sexual impulses. It’s not long before they go off their meds and humanity’s dark side rears its ugly head.

The Lord-of-the-Flies-in-space set-up is augmented by contemporary themes of paranoia and the politics of fear, as well as some nods to classic sci-fi.

Voyagers is a sleek little sci-fi thriller that’s both surprisingly thoughtful and effectively tense, but I can’t help but feel it was hampered by the PG rating (ironically reflecting the crew’s unfamiliarity with sex and violence). 7/10