PASSENGERS... are you enjoying the ride?

What would you do if you are facing an imminent solitude? Facing the fact that you will be alone for the res of your life? That life has played you a bad trick and now like if you were left alone in a dessert island you are facing the rest of your life trapped in a bubble by yourself? Obvioulsy the right thing to say would be to face the inminent destiny that awaits you or just opting to take your life, but what if you can actually change things and that means choose someone to join you in this horrible situation? You have the power in your hands to take someone's life to fulfill yours, what would you do? Would you face your destiny by yourself with all the perks and cons that that implies or would you opt for bringing someone to  the same situation so you both can go along meaning the life of that other or others will be taken for any possibility in the future. Of course the right thing and the moral thing to do is to face you destiny by yourself, but we as humans we are social creatures. We need that interaction to survive and full fill a lot of necessities and desires, so wold those circumstances justified the end? Would it be understandable and ok to have someone that will join us for the rest of our lives, to enjoy, and love, and fight the daily struggle even that means taking away that persons will to choose what would they wanted for their life?

All these philosophical questions serve as an interesting plot for a new sci fi film that pretends to explore the moral side of humanity when facing extreme situations like the ones just described but sadly, all of them just hang as a possibility for more falling for the easy way trying to please the crowds with a cheesy plot full of cliches and a lack of real plot that take us nowhere, trying to follow the rough path for a couple that fell in love and now is struggling with the circumstances they are trapped in. This is "Passengers" (2016), a new film that shows as a science fiction/ adventure  on the cover just to turn into a romantic adventure that lacks of romance and adventure, not even fits as a comedy as they just keep the sci fi because it's setting but with so many influences feels confusing and reminds us another movies like the one of a big ship sinking in the middle of the ocean after been hit by an iceberg while two passengers try to save their love and future together, or others about a man drafted in an island far away from civilization and trying to survive by himself while trying to find a way to get out of there, almost getting crazy and loosing himself for the lack of interaction with any other person.If we mixed those two examples we get something similar to what we are about to see, now just happening in the space as a place far away where we are trapped with no other way to go and played by two of the most popular and bankable celebrities of this time.

Chris Platt plays the role of a young man that left his planet to take this journey to populated a new planet where traveling for 120 years is needed, but when his capsule fails after an accident waking him up after just 30 years of the trip, just to realize that he is the only one among the other 500 passengers, leaving him trapped in the space ship by himself. Even there are more people around, they are sleeping to make it through the trip and get to their destination alive because there is no way to go when traveling deep in the galaxy, so has to make it by himself, meaning finding a way to kill time, entertain himself, leading this to the feeling of a life without purpose. Until he runs into beautiful girl, that while she is sleeping, he will get into all her life just to find some kind of connection that will push him to his limits at the point of the possibility to wake her up as a perfect companion to the new life he got into, but depriving her of her own choice to have a life and taking away her opportunity to continue her journey to this new planet. Since the moment we saw the poster, the preview or bought the ticket we knew how this goes. She will wake up to feel just as he did, trapped by the circumstances, facing the reality of losing her porpoise to go into this journey and leave her planet and all what was part of her life back there.

Again all these potential ideas are left on the side, with the potential of hitting into a darker story about those decisions that sometimes we are forced to make, pushed by circumstances, and how do we face them, how strong can our will to survive can be and how close we can get to try to finish with our own life when seems like there is no more reason to keep living. Instead of that we get a try out of a new kind of romance where two persons fall in love just and first of all because there are the only option for each other. Second because most of what happened was intended by him to pursue her, so he knows all details he needs to surprise and charm her, but we can't but wonder, will they fall for each other if the other passengers were walking around and if he wouldn't had all the information about her, putting him in a regular situation where a guy tries to get to know a girl. And using a new setting of finding love in space, they will translate any kind of cliche into a possibility for romance in a space ship, that feels more like a five star hotel or a luxury cruise. Sadly not even the romance works as we can't relate to this guys and we can't root for them under their situation. And as if we were under the stars, when romance starts to feel good and around, it's put on the side for a crisis that these two have to face in order to save their future but maybe to get them closer or add a little more adventure to the story, as if we were asking for it?

Or maybe was the intention of add some purpose to a story that keeps trying and trying to be something that is not even fun and needed. So what keeps this space ship and film on board is the charm and chemistry of the two actors, the FX that definitely create an evolving setting, an amazing photography and score that trap us visually into this possibility and mainly is Jennifer Lawrence character the one that we care more about, is she a victim of her circumstances after leaving earth just in a quest of doing something than no one has, write about it and go back to her life that won't exist anymore just proving her lack of commitment with the people around her, just trying to find perfection and justified by the fact that she needs to keep looking and searching for something that amazed her by doing what no one has instead of finding happiness in the simple things of life, one that has been and now is trapped by the situation of falling for a way the made her fall in love and open herself as she hasn't before just to realize that this man was selfish and took her life and her choices, even he is proving to be the right one and making her feel this way, this kind of love, but is it real love an illusion based on their destiny? Would it be the same as when someone leaves everything to follow their spouse or partner for a better job or life opportunity? or is it all about the fact of someone making a choice for us? Is there a justification in order to save someone's life to sentence other's? Is it real love and destiny when someone chooses us because we are the only option and because life tries to slap you i the face for all the wrong choices made before? Well next time you better choose right when going to the movies and looking for a realistic, deep and romantic story.