The Osiris Child is a 2017 science fiction film set in a time of interplanetary colonization, where an unlikely pair race against an impending global crisis and are confronted by the monsters that live inside us all.
There is absolutely no lack of ambition and effort in every single frame of Shane Abbess‘ latest The Osiris Child (originally Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child), an epic sci-fi adventure that strives to be as big and bombastic as it can, with loads of good looking visuals and a grand, universe-filling story. It’s glossy and full of energy even without a huge budget to back it, despite lacking real immersion. Still, it’s an impressive movie, working hard to distinguish itself from so many others like it.
Kane (Daniel MacPherson) is a single father to eleven-year-old daughter Indi (Teagan Croft), living on a distant planet, with he working for EXOR, a massive corporation led by General Lynex (Rachel Griffiths) that terraforms new worlds, using prisoners as a kind of slave labor. With Indi on the ground and Kane aboard the orbiting space station overseeing the planet, he learns that something has gone wrong, leaving the surface with less than 24 hours before all life is swept clear. Disobeying orders, he flees the station and crashes on the planet, meeting a former nurse and escaped inmate at the prison named Sy (Kellen Lutz), learning not all is as he was told in space. Now the two work together, facing great odds in both people and monsters as they struggle to save Indi and survive the deadly countdown.
Told non-linearly and separated by bold graphical chapter title cards, The Osiris Child is an enthusiastic watch and what it lacks in depth it makes up for in sheer momentum. Abbess builds a sort of corporate-sponsored post apocalyptic nightmare and succeeds most in establishing the world where it all takes place, including good dialogue and action. He pays great attention to the details, populating the film throughout with lots of things to keep it interesting, even as the characters struggle to wriggle free of the tropes, most especially Sy, who is easily the most engaging and fully fleshed out. MacPherson is a solid hero and plays well into the built-in vulnerabilities of the character. Things get a little cartoony when we meet the atypical looney prison warden (Temuera Morrison) but there’s others that keep balance, including whacked out desert militants Bill (Luke Ford) and Gyp (Isabel Lucas), who come to join the team.
There’s a comic book adaptation feel to it all, and even a bit of dark humor about it that sometimes gives it sort of Tank Girl meets Mad Max vibe, helping to breath some comedic adventure to it all, even as it tends to take itself rather seriously. Still, it’s pretty astonishing what Abbess manages to accomplish with what he’s given, from the gritty, wasted outlands to the creepy mutant monsters roaming the landscapes. There are lulls and distractions as we bounce about the timeline, yet there’s plenty of impressive action and good storytelling to keep this clicking along.
This is clearly meant to be the start of a franchise, and if anything, makes for solid proof that the director, perhaps given a bit more to work with, could deliver something pretty grand. Just edging beyond high production television sci-fi, The Osiris Child does exactly as it sets out to do, and while it might have been better if skewed for a younger audience, as is, remains a good time at the movies.