Voyagers (2021) User Reviews

Lord of The Flies in space, done in a boring way.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 27 November 2022]

A group of youngsters are sent into deep space, in order to search for a new home, and build a better world, things however don't go according to plan.

The combination of Colin Farrell, sci fi story, and evident budget gave me real hopes that this was going to be a cracking film....

...Sadly it wasn't, it was quite unimaginative, and despite looking great, it was actually hard to stay concentrated on it, because it was sadly, just dull.

A very interesting first 10 minutes or so, then it descends into sci fi opera, a Lord of The Flies story which sadly lacked any real sense of appeal.

Farrell was good, but should have had a much bigger part, the interest went along with his character.

Hoped for a lot, was ultimately disappointed, 5/10.

Average

[ThomDerd · 6/10 · 29 May 2021]

Plot: Lord of the flies but now in space.

Some good points here: Set design is very good. Music is ok and helps the pace of the film.

Some bad points: The sub-story has holes bigger than black holes in space. And the acting is sometimes plain like watching teenage theater.

If you don't know lord of the flies, than you will probably find this interesting.

I didn't mind the watch but that's not more than a 6/10.

Frustrating nonsensical plot drags down everything

[kaideneve · 4/10 · 5 May 2021]

This movie is actually quite intriguing for the first 40 minutes or so. The set design is excellent, and along with cold emotionless expressions on the actors and shots of the mundane lives of the would-be colonists, helps to establish a plausible set-up with tons of potential. They know they're the first generation of a ship on a multi-generational voyage to colonize another planet, and may also be humanity's last hope of survival. Their grim personas express their awareness of this fact and that the mission is paramount. There's even a mysterious hint at an unexpected presence on the ship to add to the suspense.

Don't bother watching the second half though. As a lot of other reviews have mentioned, it tries to adapt a plot similar to Lord of the Flies, however the big difference here is that these teenagers are supposed to have been highly trained for this mission their entire lives, and are literally the future of humanity. They're not a ragtag group of students on a deserted island struggling for survival.

I don't think I need to use any spoilers for you to imagine how trying to shoehorn the Lord of the Flies plot into this situation leads to a trainwreck of a last half. The script takes a sharp turn into utter nonsense with ridiculous dialogue and characters actions. It is truly such a pity and a waste of a great set-up.

I will say that I was impressed with the performance of Tye Sheridan in particular, and Colin Farrell can rarely do wrong as well. The other main actors were decent at best, or just too weighed down by atrocious dialogue to make anything of their performances.

I'd recommend watching the first 40min or so (8/10) and then just walking away and imagining your own conclusion. Anything would be better than what transpired in the last half of Voyagers.

Highly intelligent idiots

[cahamiltonky · 2/10 · 16 October 2021]

Painfully boring and beyond stupid. Highly educated and intelligent people who easily sink into the depths of a Twilight Zone episode I saw as a child. Easily manipulated by a single person, quick to kill... oh, good grief, this was just a typical boring study of mob mentality at it's worse that we've seen in many other movies. We humans do some stupid things sometimes and follow the wrong leaders sometimes but these movies make the human race seem like mindless sheep. Enough already.

Really don't get the hate

[monaharfmann · 7/10 · 2 June 2021]

Honestly I don't understand all the negative reviews. Personally I liked almost everything about this movie: the idea, the music, the cinematography and most of the actors. They also put a lot of thought into small details which I really appreciated. Maybe it's not Oscar-worthy or something like that but it never tried to be. It's an enjoyable Sci-Fi movie that makes you think about the nature of mankind, our future, climate change, even democracy. Definitely worth 7/10!

A perfectly fine movie, examines "what is our true nature?"

[TxMike · 17 August 2021]

Many very shallow comments call this "Lord of the Flies in Space", or something akin to that. Doing so, or thinking so, misses the point completely. I'd say this movie has more in common with "Pleasantville" where the writer-director asked the question "Is it better to live in a totally safe, predictable world or in one where you have choices and can make mistakes?"

The hook here is 40+ years in the future and we are beginning to worry about long term viability of the Human species on Earth. So a voyage is planned to an inhabitable planet, even traveling at a very high speed will take 86 years to get there.

So the plan involves creating roughly 30 babies by conception and delivery in a lab, using genetics of intelligent and successful donors. The subjects are raised, educated, and trained in isolation so they have no attachment to the real world. During the 86-year trip they would reproduce and their grandchildren would become the settlers of the new planet.

While the ending has a satisfying statement the real story is during the trip itself, roughly ten years into it, when some then most of the voyagers begin to exercise free will, some don't care if the mission succeeds, "we will all die anyway." The question ultimately becomes "What is our true nature and can we learn to care about others and do things for the common good?"

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library, a fine movie and much better than its IMDb rating would suggest.

Don't be fooled. This is no Sci-Fi

[Sam_M_Antony · 2/10 · 20 June 2021]

The entire movie can be watched as a speedrun. There isn't much of a story. Very predictable and poorly written. I felt as I wasted time watching this movie. I wouldn't watch this even if this is available in a streaming service like Netflix.

A HIGHLY Intelligent & Thought Provoking 🌠 Movie, Stylistically & Visually FANTASTIC ; But One That's Somewhat, Er ..."DIVERGENT"... From Its MPAA Certified PG-13 Rating 🤷 .

[Radio-1s_Mr-MovieMad-Ami_104-1FM · 8/10 · 8 July 2021]

A "Good, Old Fashioned" -{ BIG }- Screen Mini Review .

______________________________________________________

Christopher : " Maybe this is our true nature " .

Richard : " That's a profound thought " .

{ NON-spoiler : This is ( -Clearly- ) audible in the film's March-2021 trailer } .

______________________________________________________

I've -actually- come across -atleast- a 100 reviews on this forum slamming 'Voyagers' for being, in essence : " -{ Not Much More }- than an ( outer space ) rip-off of a certain acclaimed author's novel -turned film- { "Lord of the Flies" ( 1954 ) }. Here is my response to that accusation , in earnest. -All- Directors , & -All- Artists , frankly... are -{ Constantly }- being " inspired " by prior artistic works, & " borrow " from them FAR MORE OFTEN than we may 'readily' be prepared to admit. I would like to make it entirely clear that this most certainly -{ Not }- the same thing as 'ripping-off', 'plagiarizing', or 'stealing'. For the seemingly -endless- contrarians among you on this platform that have somewhat callously accused this undeniably -{ Enthralling }- Space 🌌 thriller's super-talented Director Neil Burger, { known best for the critically rejected yet -popularly- "Colossal" 'Divergent' ( 2014 ) }, of doing just that : Kindly note the 'following' . " I'd be 'willing-to-bet' that if the bespoke 'literary late great', Author & Nobel Laureate William Golding, were somehow able to publicly opine on the matter from the great-beyond ; he would be rather -{ unequivocal }- in lavishing praise on -{ this }- particular iteration.... { of that age-old " Darkness-Of-Man's-Heart ( etc. ) " theme } ....presented here as a grand scale "Cinematic Thought-Experiment" of sorts. The pointed, Unbridled critique of the frailty of human nature offered in the picture, along with its perfectly paced and -unabashed- study of how 'Serious-immorality' can rear its ugly head in literally -{ Any }- given social setting, is, in point of fact, completely & utterly " Fascinating " , at the very -least- . Even just as a pure work-of-Art, the film works BEAUTIFULLY 💙 , 'in it's own right'. Moreover, the ( somewhat ) "fresh-faced" ensemble of 'Up-and-comers', led by none other than veteran actor Colin Farrell, render their ( often ) "deliberately-Subdued" performances, for the most part, "To an absolute freakin' tee" .

Summary : Alas, I know in my heart of hearts that I -Must- take a -Whole- point off this ( 'ultimately' ) fiery & riveting movie's overall score, & here's why, in a nutshell : 'Voyagers' is truly -{ Not }- appropriate for young teenagers . . . -{ Inspite }- of the fact that it is rated PG-13 . This, the film's -OWN- homepage, in fact, mentions that it very nearly received an { 'R' }-Rating from the M. P. A. A. Additionally, I feel that this -should- really have been atleast a -{ Slightly }- longer picture . . . Exploring a few " Key " aspects of the story in greater depth. So, from me, all told, that's going to be a 'pandemic-Considerate', yet nonetheless -decidedly- Inspired, Even { " INVIGORATED " } . . . 7.50 Marks Out Of 10.00 🚀🔥🖖 .

It deserves more than 5/10

[theprogs · 7/10 · 18 May 2021]

When I first saw the rating, I was going to skip this movie, but because I like the Space movies I gave it a shot. The movie has actually impressed me, especially in the first half, I'm not sure about the second half because it has some nonsense events, but I don't think that could push the rating beneath 6/10.

The idea, the story, the environment, the dialogue, the SFX and visualizations are good enough, that's why I'm giving it 7 out of 10.

Lord of the Flies meets hormonal teens in space

[srdikano · 4/10 · 14 October 2021]

Shockingly enough, the premise isn't all that bad. It's just that the tropey story, amateur script and lackluster direction inevitably tank the whole thing. Skip this.

Better than expected

[thomasjbollinger · 7/10 · 2 June 2021]

Read some reviews here during the movie - it was a mistake. I liked the movie for a couple of things, mostly I found the plot idea was interesting, the setting was good and the overall performance of all the actors was good. The movie also raises some interesting topics and thesis, like: What is it really to be male, if education and upbringing doesn't interfere? Are we by nature that violent an reckless or not - or only some? What percentage is genetic? I enjoyed the movie and in my opinionm it was a lot better than the score the movie gets here.

Boring, predictable, and overall not worth your time

[zkarabat · 3/10 · 9 March 2022]

How this was released in theaters baffles me. Forced to watch it at my in-laws over the holidays and best I can say is that we didn't turn it off so no arguments over politics could occur.

Sci fi premise that focuses on human wild nature but stylistic film.

[cruise01 · 7/10 · 10 April 2021]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Voyagers is a pretty fair science fiction film about a biologically created group of kids. Who are going on a voyage to a new planet to colonize and start over. But while on a space voyage. They discover there pleasure senses have been reduced from a drug they been taking. They decide to stop which there wild instincts kick in into madness. Which the group of teens will be divided from trying to have a civilized rule to a living life wild which can put the future of humanity at risk.

What worked? The concept and plot is promising. In a future. Earth is no longer livable. Researchers decides to genetically create humans so they wont be attached from leaving earth. They have been isolated from civilization. And Richard (Colin Farrell) who is a researcher and a mentor. Tags along with the space crew to make sure they are behaving. Until they start to lose control.

The set designs and visual effects are great. Kind of feels similiar to the movie Passengers.

The cast ensemble is good. Colin Farrell is good. Tye Sheridan and Lily-Rose Depp were great. Fionn Whitehead playing a rebellious teen who is trying to create fear within the group and trying to live there lives selfishly was good too.

What did not work? The film is a slow burn thriller. The second act is slow and boring in the middle. Could have been a faster direction. The film does pick up when tension rises with Tye Sheridan and Fionn Whitehead are divided and fighting each other.

Also the music score was a bit dull for a science fiction space thriller. Which kind of made the movie feel a little dull.

It does have an interesting premise and some thrills and a great cast. Which could have been better.

Started out with a good premise, quickly turned in to lord of the flies

[mason25 · 1/10 · 26 October 2021]

This was almost scene for scene the lord of the flies set against a new age/near future back drop, not one single twist or unexpected anything to happen or cause intrigue.

Better than most reviews say

[kgborrell-34146 · 7/10 · 25 May 2021]

It's like others said...Lord of the Flies in space. It's not terrible but not the best ever either. Good for a casual watch.

I deserve a medal

[ndlanding · 3/10 · 11 December 2021]

I sure deserve a medal for getting to the end of this boring, predictible piece of rubbish. I don't think Golding would be too happy about the comparisons being made.

It's more profund that it looks

[adamkaminski-41395 · 9/10 · 24 February 2024]

Between the lines you can see that the director tries to show how a society without leadership, laws, order, and a legitimate force to insure peace, will colapse into destruction. People need to be reasonable, racional and control their impulses, instints, emotion and desires, otherwise they would live only for satisfying themselves and will forget about the future and the sake of all, ignoring a greater purpose.

The young actors could have performed better, but the idea behind the story will compensate it. Colin Farrell did well. There are a lot of flaws, but I think it's very difficult to do a movie like that in only 107 min.

PS: you will notice that Zac represents the lefties.

mankind just can't help itself

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 4 March 2024]

Scientists believe they have found another planet capable of sustaining human life. So they build a mission which will deliver future generations to it. During the journey, the young astronauts realize that if they stop eating a certain food, they feel more emotion. And energy. And sexual viability. And they get courage to break more rules.. like breaking into the supplies which were supposed to be held for the next generation of colonists. When more infractions and catastrophies occur, their chances of completing this mission seem to be decreasing. This has been called a cross between lord of the flies and earthsearch. Lots of irrational phsical violence, competition, fighting. Even after seeing what really happened in the video that started all this. It just feels like a runaway train, barreling toward a failed mission. Can anything stop this wave of violence? Written and directed by neil burger. I liked his other films divergent and illusionist better. But this one isn't bad!

Bad Sci fi version of lord of the flies

[alexuno_murray · 2/10 · 3 July 2021]

Bunch of annoying teenagers screwing things up. Didn't bother watching it to the end, waist of time. Oh, and the little film music is annoying too.

Well, pretty much a disaster

[xNecRosex · 4/10 · 19 May 2021]

Subpar flick lacking anything worth mentioning. The trailer was probably the best thing about this film and after watching the film you realise the trailer was waaaay better, the viiibes etc, rather cool.

Depp's daughter though, has a potential to be a good actress, just isn't quite there yet.

Lord of the Flies in space

[mikehole · 7/10 · 9 April 2021]

A good concept to work with but could have been so much more. It looked good visually but really just devolved into a Lord of the Flies story in space.

Most of the acting was like watching a high school play, suitable to the young adult genre and so quite predictable. Entertaining nevertheless.

Leaves you feeling cheated

[antony-69 · 1/10 · 8 May 2021]

Borrows heavily from Lord of the Flies but misses out on plot, action, cohesion, intelligence, commentary, etc. Acting is wooden too just to make it even worse. Don't waste your time.

The prequel to Pandorum

[Leeman774 · 7/10 · 15 June 2021]

Once you realize how similar it it is to the pandorum backstory it makes voyagers more interesting.

If you prefer logic and reason, then this movie isn't for you

[Chi-C-Dawg · 2/10 · 12 October 2021]

There's nothing more frustrating than a movie about "smart" people who constantly choose the wrong and most illogical route of action. This movie does this repeatedly as the film progresses. I hated watching it unfold and was not a satisfying viewing experience.

Solid, entertaining, truthful.

[RJBrez · 7/10 · 10 April 2021]

I enjoyed Voyagers for several reasons:

• Colin Farrell is awesome in everything he does. He owns the screen and I'll watch any project he does.

• Space exploration is always an enjoyable story because you can do any kind of film with it.

• Excellent leads and supporting cast
• last but not least, most human beings are, or would be, terrible without rules or control. Look at our society today. Fat, lazy, entitled, etc. I'm embarrassed to be human some days. I enjoy movies that explore what we turn into when elements of control are stripped away.

Voyagers has its weak plot points, but overall is worth a few hours of your time.