AtomicaIs it enough to trust someone based on their word alone? Atomica is a sci-fi thriller about a future where a megacorporation named Auxilisun has ostensibly solved the problem of toxic waste and rekindled faith in nuclear power across the globe. When the original toxic waste processing plant goes dark one Christmas, a newly graduated technician, Abby (Sarah Habel), journeys deep into the radioactive "red zone" to investigate and get the site back online. After she encounters the skittish caretaker, Robinson Scott (Dominic Monaghan), her trust begins to decay, and is replaced with paranoid suspicion.
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Our future is depicted in the opening credits of Atomica, made up to resemble a corporate commercial for Auxilisun's patented "tri-fission engine", which claims that it turns radioactive waste into a sustainable, clean, "and most important, cheap" energy source. Atomica intimates that an energy crisis in our not-too-distant future pressures the global community to embrace convenience over safety and environmental concerns. This cynical tone conditions the audience to expect something to go wrong, given such a blasé attitude about nuclear power in the hands of a distant corporate powerhouse. Even the headquarters of Auxilisun is implied to be its own city--where Abby lives in her spartan apartment looking over the bleak, skyscraper-stuffed super-campus. Abby is intelligent, but is naive about the world away from Auxilisun. She has a reoccurring dream about her father having her grandmother euthanized. Her father is a metaphor for Auxilisun, and the dream speaks to Abby's hidden distrust of their ethical ambivalence--that they are both willing to deal with "acceptable losses" in the service of a larger "convenience". It is implied that Abby turned away from her father after this event, but instead threw herself into her work at Auxilisun. She tells Robinson that her friends are her two dogs, Tesla and Giles, also implying that she doesn't have any "human" friends. Abby is a proverbial cheerleader for Auxilisun, and is convinced that nothing could possibly go wrong with any of their magnificent and brilliant energy sites, even when she steps into the rust-laden husk that is the Gibson Desert North site. She describes the location as "neglected", as though it were a person, but is unprepared for the proverbial senility of the Gibson Desert North site. She is sent to the site as a technician, but is oblivious to the error codes that pop up when klaxons and alarms start blaring, as though she's never been trained to handle any possibility of malfunction that can't be remedied with her corporate tablet.
Abby is blindsided by the flip and unhinged Robinson--they are introduced after he sneaks up on her with a crazed look in his eyes, dressed in filthy clothing, and wielding a golf club. Robinson claims he has been affected by "sensory deprivation psychosis", after being removed from external human contact. The exception to this is Robinson's boss, the illustrious Professor Zek (Tom Sizemore), who is absent for most of the movie--the implication being that something was done to him by Robinson before Abby's arrival, and that Robinson is lying about it. Robinson's behavior ranges from evasive and manic to withdrawn and eager as he tries to form an emotional bond with Abby. His methods are always suspect, from his indifferent way of showing her to her room, offering her a cup of coffee, or watching her while she's taking a shower. Robinson is apathetic to Abby's efforts to diagnose the site's problems, and he tells suspicious stories about Zek's behavior, intimating he was working on some secret and maniacal project which drove him insane. When Professor Zek is found out in the red zone, and he tells Abby about the secret of Gibson Desert North, her loyalties are pulled in all directions, and is unprepared to handle this quagmire of conflicting "truths". When one of the mega-fans that has been sustaining the nuclear disposal site stops without warning, Abby's confusion escalates into a nightmare scenario of paranoia under the imminent threat of a nuclear holocaust.
Distributed by Syfy Films, Atomica shares tropes often found in the sci-fi flicks of yesteryear, where its entertainment value is hinged on an intriguing premise more than plausibility. Consider how the motorcycle-like oxygen helmet Abby wears into the highly radioactive wasteland has obvious gaps exposing her skin to the environment, or how she only remembers tracking devices when it suits the needs of the plot. (In Abby's defense, the claustrophobic (and potentially radioactive) environment might be affecting her cognitive abilities.) This gives the film an "old school" sci-fi movie vibe--like a forgotten B-movie from the Seventies or Eighties. The sense of claustrophobia or "cabin fever" in Atomica is more pronounced with a principal cast of only three characters; this also makes the disintegrating trust between them more significant, and is heightened by the actors cast as Gibson Desert North's two residents. Dominic Monaghan (who co-produces Atomica) projects the same nervous charisma and sketchiness that he did when he played Charlie Pace in the television series, "Lost". Tom Sizemore always seems like a coiled spring housed in a warm, nice guy persona, evidenced by his frequent turns as unhinged psychopaths in films like Natural Born Killers. Feelings of paranoid distrust present before Abby arrives recalls Andrei Tarkovsky's meditative science fiction film, Solaris. The technology depicted in Atomica resembles a natural progression of today's devices. Abby's handheld computers have battery life measured in months, and synchs up to the exterior of a terminal by a magnetic attachment; they also feature a three-dimensional augmented reality interface. This represents that despite the intrinsic dangers of a nuclear-powered future, the technology is designed to make workers more efficient and people more productive--in theory. Robinson is more fond of "vintage" technology, like his acoustic guitar--he espouses his fondness for antique music formats like "compact discs". He unwinds by shooting golf balls into the wasteland from a perch that stares out over the vast, radioactive wasteland. Abby is transported to her destination in a sophisticated--if alien-looking--vessel called a "tricopter", that has jet thrusters and spins like a gyroscope. A predominance of blinding lighting effects, and a fair degree of lens flare, is meant to speak to a "bright future" under the dominion of Auxilisun. But whether this proverbial "bright future" comes from a renaissance of technology and energy efficiency through Auxilisun, or is a metaphor for the blast of an atomic bomb is at the root of Abby's quest.
Recommended for: Fans of a futuristic sci-fi thriller that plays to paranoia through a small cast in a claustrophobic setting, juxtaposed with the backdrop of a nuclear disaster on the horizon. Atomica recalls both classic B-movie sci-fi thrillers while incorporating modern special effects, giving it a unique identity for a comparatively small production.
Abby is blindsided by the flip and unhinged Robinson--they are introduced after he sneaks up on her with a crazed look in his eyes, dressed in filthy clothing, and wielding a golf club. Robinson claims he has been affected by "sensory deprivation psychosis", after being removed from external human contact. The exception to this is Robinson's boss, the illustrious Professor Zek (Tom Sizemore), who is absent for most of the movie--the implication being that something was done to him by Robinson before Abby's arrival, and that Robinson is lying about it. Robinson's behavior ranges from evasive and manic to withdrawn and eager as he tries to form an emotional bond with Abby. His methods are always suspect, from his indifferent way of showing her to her room, offering her a cup of coffee, or watching her while she's taking a shower. Robinson is apathetic to Abby's efforts to diagnose the site's problems, and he tells suspicious stories about Zek's behavior, intimating he was working on some secret and maniacal project which drove him insane. When Professor Zek is found out in the red zone, and he tells Abby about the secret of Gibson Desert North, her loyalties are pulled in all directions, and is unprepared to handle this quagmire of conflicting "truths". When one of the mega-fans that has been sustaining the nuclear disposal site stops without warning, Abby's confusion escalates into a nightmare scenario of paranoia under the imminent threat of a nuclear holocaust.
Distributed by Syfy Films, Atomica shares tropes often found in the sci-fi flicks of yesteryear, where its entertainment value is hinged on an intriguing premise more than plausibility. Consider how the motorcycle-like oxygen helmet Abby wears into the highly radioactive wasteland has obvious gaps exposing her skin to the environment, or how she only remembers tracking devices when it suits the needs of the plot. (In Abby's defense, the claustrophobic (and potentially radioactive) environment might be affecting her cognitive abilities.) This gives the film an "old school" sci-fi movie vibe--like a forgotten B-movie from the Seventies or Eighties. The sense of claustrophobia or "cabin fever" in Atomica is more pronounced with a principal cast of only three characters; this also makes the disintegrating trust between them more significant, and is heightened by the actors cast as Gibson Desert North's two residents. Dominic Monaghan (who co-produces Atomica) projects the same nervous charisma and sketchiness that he did when he played Charlie Pace in the television series, "Lost". Tom Sizemore always seems like a coiled spring housed in a warm, nice guy persona, evidenced by his frequent turns as unhinged psychopaths in films like Natural Born Killers. Feelings of paranoid distrust present before Abby arrives recalls Andrei Tarkovsky's meditative science fiction film, Solaris. The technology depicted in Atomica resembles a natural progression of today's devices. Abby's handheld computers have battery life measured in months, and synchs up to the exterior of a terminal by a magnetic attachment; they also feature a three-dimensional augmented reality interface. This represents that despite the intrinsic dangers of a nuclear-powered future, the technology is designed to make workers more efficient and people more productive--in theory. Robinson is more fond of "vintage" technology, like his acoustic guitar--he espouses his fondness for antique music formats like "compact discs". He unwinds by shooting golf balls into the wasteland from a perch that stares out over the vast, radioactive wasteland. Abby is transported to her destination in a sophisticated--if alien-looking--vessel called a "tricopter", that has jet thrusters and spins like a gyroscope. A predominance of blinding lighting effects, and a fair degree of lens flare, is meant to speak to a "bright future" under the dominion of Auxilisun. But whether this proverbial "bright future" comes from a renaissance of technology and energy efficiency through Auxilisun, or is a metaphor for the blast of an atomic bomb is at the root of Abby's quest.
Recommended for: Fans of a futuristic sci-fi thriller that plays to paranoia through a small cast in a claustrophobic setting, juxtaposed with the backdrop of a nuclear disaster on the horizon. Atomica recalls both classic B-movie sci-fi thrillers while incorporating modern special effects, giving it a unique identity for a comparatively small production.