Meets 24 Spanish Sci-Fi Film

In Robert Zemeckis adaptation of Carl Sagan Contacta single woman discovers a radio signal which she believes to be proof of extraterrestrial life. Then, for over two hours, she battles every force imaginable to prove herself and the existence of the signal itself. Now take this scenario and put it in a single room with a ticking clock. This is The paradox of Antares.

Alexandra (Andrea Trepat) works for a small SETI (Search for Extra Terrestiral Intelligence) group in Spain. One night, she goes to work and finds that everything has gone wrong, because her gear is broken, there’s a huge storm outside, and her father is in the hospital with maybe only a few hours to live. So, of course, that’s when the thing happens that she’s literally been waiting for her entire life: she begins to receive a mysterious signal from outer space.

This setup alone is intriguing, but writer/director Luis Tinoco gives Alex a ton of added complications, like a sister blaming her about her dad. She also has a colleague who resigns, a boss who sleeps during her discovery. And above all, there is only about an hour before she loses control of the radio telescope which receives the signal. And so Alex has to go through all the proper protocols to verify this potential signal while battling bureaucracy, calling out all her remaining favors, burning bridges and potentially ruining her entire life just because she believes in it so much. .

Along the way, Tinoco continues to whittle down to a few powerful framing devices that help contextualize Alex’s motivation. There’s a video podcast she does where she asks some pretty tantalizing questions, as well as videos of her sick dad that he recorded in the hospital. These return not only to ease the intense, growing tension of the film, but to remind the audience what the potential of this cue means to Alex, what she gives up to be there, and the lengths she will go to for it, efforts which the film takes pleasure in dramatizing.

Besides basic vanity, the other thing The paradox of Antares has in common with Contact is its central question. Contact was very frank that this was a battle between science and religion. The paradox of Antares is about that too, but he treats it much more gracefully. As Alex’s situation grows increasingly dire and the potential for the signal to be true becomes more likely, she is forced to choose between what is possible and what is pragmatic. What in life does work sacrifice something for?

The question arises in large part because Trepat is fantastic as Alex, showing both a childlike wonder at the endless possibilities of her job as well as deep regret and sadness about the choices she has. facts, done and will do. Alex isn’t a character who seems to really like herself, but she deeply believes in what she does, despite what everyone around her is saying. It all shows in every mannerism of Trepat’s performance – remember, it all happens in one room with an actress.

Alex interacts with other people via video chat or phone, but it’s mostly just her in this room. And yet the circumstances, compiled with the editing and the music, make the film almost incredibly propulsive. A one-piece drama could easily have been outdated and boring, but, The paradox of Antares is never that. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s basically told in real time like Kiefer Sutherland’s show 24so every second you feel his desperation all the more.

Whether The Antares project was made by a studio with a big star in mind instead of being a small Spanish film with a TV star it would be in the Oscars conversation. It’s so well done, so effective and so universal. The fact that it’s also potentially in-universe makes it even better. The film is bound to be remade on a larger scale and so far it is my favorite film of Fantastic Fest 2022.

Want more io9 news? Find out when to wait for the last wonder and star wars versions, what’s next for the DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about Dragon House and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.