A wistful beauty and a delicate, imaginative sense of craft set “Vesper” apart from most apocalyptic tales. In this future, a genetically induced ecological disaster has left survivors scattered and an elite class living confined to a protected area known as the Citadel. Perhaps more visually influenced by illustrators and video games than films, directors Cristina Buozaitte and Bruno Samper envelop us in the world of a talented girl who takes care of her bedridden father.
Vesper (Raffiella Chapman) roams the tranquil forest around the cabin with her drone. Her relationship with her parent Darius (Richard Brake) has a sweet sci-fi lyricism. Darius, a corpse-like figure lit by a glowing sphere, like a painting by a Dutch master, physically stays at home and is the handiwork of Felixus Aburkaukas, whose cinematography is his CGI for the film. are smoothly integrated.
One day, Vesper finds an older girl lying in a forest overgrown with vines like a fairy-tale princess (although these vines suck blood). This is Camellia (Rosie McEwen), a glassy-eyed defector from a crash-landed Citadel. Her stay with Vesper attracts Darius’ unscrupulous brother, Jonas (Eddie Marsan), who has hired an army of her children and stocked up on valuable seeds.
More impressive than the utilitarian plot is the elegant visual idea. A hybrid plant that resembles deep-sea creatures and forest mushrooms. Or a Vesper computer console, a tabletop scrim of swirling colors. In the hands of these filmmakers, aerial shots of specks of light in the woods eloquently express Vesper’s loneliness and her optimism that might save her.
Vesper
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes.Available for rent or purchase at the theater apple tv, google play and other streaming platforms and pay-TV operators.