Oxygen (Oxygène): Movie Review

We must admit that we're very fond of films that defy the physical limits of what a set could be. Films like 2010's "Buried" or 2011's "127 Hours" that mostly feature one location throughout its runtime, if done well, provides a thrilling and claustrophobic experience that will certainly tickle your senses. In this case, "Oxygen" doesn't disappoint and its well-paced and well-developed narrative will leave audiences extremely satisfied by the time it ends. 

 

A woman (Mélanie Laurent) wakes up trapped inside a medical cryogenic unit without any memory who she is or why she is there. As she tries to desperately seek help, the unit's built-in artificial intelligence M.I.L.O. (Mathieu Amalric) introduces itself and informs her that the reason she woke up from cyogenic sleep is that her pod has experienced a fatal error and she is running low on oxygen. With less than an hour left before her oxygen supply runs out, she must find a way to contact someone from outside and rebuild her lost memories so she could find a way out of the box. 

At one point in "Oxygen", we ourselves couldn't trust what we were experiencing on-screen and we are left as clueless as the protagonist. For us, that's how engaging and exhilirating the film was from start to finish. From its very first scene, audiences will be trapped and as lost as the film's lead character who suddenly wakes up without any memory of who and where she is. Similarly, audiences will find themselves second-guessing, piecing together, and solving its mysteries toe to toe with her and "Oxygen" was one of the very few films that we were genuinely surprised when everything was finally revealed. We also loved how the film was able to provide a hefty and meaty sci-fi thriller with moments that made us think and ponder quite a lot about sickness, cryogenics, and the future of the human race. While most of the film's engagement was brought in by its well-developed story, a huge factor was Mélanie Laurent's harrowing portrayal of her character. She was able to exude the internal and external crisis that ran through her character's mind. Additionally, Director Alexandre Aja was able to work amazing and fluid shots even when he was limited by his trapped-in-a-box concept. Overall, "Oxygen" was a big surprise for us. It was able to provide an interesting, thought-provoking, thrilling viewing experience from end to end. 

Rating: 4 reels

Why you should watch it:
- amazing performance from Mélanie Laurent
- well-paced and well-developed narrative will leave you very satisfied

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- some of the visual effect deficiences were obvious
- a few of its scifi concepts didn't make a lot of sense