An effective, fast-paced homage to the alien sci-fi thriller genre, albeit predictable.
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Osiris throws you right in the middle of a shootout. It’s high-octane, bloodrushing, disorienting – wasting no time setting the mood. But the constant barrage of gunshots quickly lulls you into a numb, dazed-like state when it continues with the same tone for the next ten minutes.
If the intention was to make humans fighting each other seem monotonous, then it did its job well. So when a red beam of light casts from the sky, causing every soldier to drop their guard and finally stop shooting, it’s more of a relief than anything.
Osiris plays it very straight. A group of experienced fighters get stuck on a spaceship and try to figure a way to escape while surviving hordes of hyper-intelligent, deadly aliens. It works as a pastiche of past sci-fi horrors, but doesn’t attempt to stand out.
There are a few highlights, however. The practical effects and weathering of the clothes were excellent, it really felt like being dropped into their world. The vibrancy of the movie’s colour palette plays into its strength, and at times is gorgeous, distinguishing it from other gritty, greyish action films of the same genre. It’s a stylistic choice that pays off well and doesn’t take away from the realism of its world.
Osiris being named after the Egyptian God of death, fertility and afterlife is also interesting, especially when it alludes to the aliens as ‘demons’ and the men emerging from gloopy birthing pods in the beginning. Other concepts, such as how other humans are being kept on the ship as livestock or war trophies, feel fresh and a little more high-concept.
The design of the aliens and how their featureless faces move is so eerie, so captivating, that it’s a letdown when they mainly use guns to mow down the protagonists. What should be an unfamiliar species, with its own culture, biology and technology, feels instead like humans versus humans, one happening to cosplay with alien skin.
Osiris is fine if you are craving another Predator or Alien with some pieces emptily reshuffled, but to a more discerning eye, it feels like a video game with no payoff.
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