Mixing film genres is risky, as Morten Tyldum, director of 2018's Passengers, learned the hard way. Starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, two of the decade's most bankable young stars, the film attempted to meld a twisty rom-com with “soft” science fiction to mixed results. While the movie was not a complete failure, its global box office barely recouped its production and marketing costs, and reviews were lukewarm, with many critics criticizing its plot and pacing. It was not the holiday blockbuster Columbia Pictures anticipated. In particular, many viewers found the film's central premise - its "meet-cute," in the parlance of rom-coms - creepy at best and horrendous at worst.
While questionable personal ethics are often baked into romantic comedies, they are plot points that viewers are generally willing to concede in the service of the story: Meg Ryan's cross-country stalking adventure in Sleepless In Seattle, and Tom Hanks' returning the favor with his unidentified emails in You've Got Mail. However, Chris Pratt's actions in Passengers crossed the line in the minds of many movie-goers, who simply couldn't ignore the implications. Worse, the film gives off "Love Boat in Space" vibes with its luxury setting and wise-cracking (robot) bartender, and then switches abruptly into Poseidon Adventure territory.
Although not unwatchable, Passengers is a misfire on many levels, and there are three films currently streaming free on Prime Video that tackle some of the same ideas in much better ways.
The plot of the movie Pandorum (2009) revolves around a pair of astronauts who wake up on a spacecraft with no memory of their mission or identity. As they try to unravel the mysteries of their situation, they encounter various threats and must navigate through the spacecraft's dark and dangerous corridors. The movie combines elements of psychological thriller, horror, and science fiction as the characters struggle to survive and uncover the truth about their mission. And when the truth is revealed... it's wilder than I imagined, and I have a pretty good imagination.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) doesn't take place in space, although for practical purposes, it might as well. The movie follows the story of a woman named Michelle, who wakes up after a car accident to find herself in a self-contained underground bunker with two men. The men claim that the outside world has been affected by a chemical attack and is now uninhabitable. As tensions rise within the bunker, Michelle becomes suspicious of the men's motives and sets out to uncover the truth about the outside world. Unlike Passengers, which gives up its central conceit immediately, 10 Cloverfield Lane toys with its viewers for a good long time before revealing what's real and what's not.
And finally, Aniara is (2018) a Swedish (subtitled) science fiction film that follows the passengers of a spaceship that is knocked off course while traveling to Mars. Like Passengers, it is set on a luxury craft and explores the psychological impact of being stranded in space and the existential crisis faced by the passengers as they grapple with their new reality. The film delves into themes of isolation, humanity, and the search for meaning in a seemingly endless void.
The good news is that all four movies are currently streaming for free on Amazon Prime, so unlike the unfortunate passengers of the Aniara, you can easily change course if you get a few minutes into any one of them and decide it's not for you.