The Titan is a Netflix original sci-fi movie. It takes place in the year 2048. Over half of the earth is uninhabitable. The earth’s population is starving. A scientist, Prof. Martin Collingwood (Tom Wilkinson) comes up with a way to modify humans in the hope they are capable of living on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn.
There are spoilers ahead.
Soldiers who’ve shown extraordinary strength in survival are selected for the experiment. Lt. Rick Janssen (Sam Worthington) is chief among them. His wife Dr. Abi Janssen (Taylor Schilling) is gung ho on the program and considers her husband a hero. They have a son Lucas (Noah Jupe) who travels with them to the secret installation high in the mountains where the research is done.
No one has ever been to Titan. We know that the atmosphere is methane, we know it’s extremely cold. We know a few things about Titan.
Prof. Collingwood, who is more than a little bit mad, thinks he knows how to modify a human so that they can live on Titan. He tells the soldiers he recruits that they will receive training and treatments to prepare them, they will go to Titan for two years, and then come back and save people on earth by taking them to Titan.
A good part of the film is spent on the experimental work being done on the recruits. They get gills, eyes like cats, and modified body parts of various kinds.
The treatments don’t work as expected. Rick’s wife Abi is more and more concerned about what’s happening as she sees changes in Rick and the other men and women in the program.
Dr. Freya Upton (Agyness Deyn) is Prof. Collingwood’s chief assistant. She becomes concerned about what’s happening, too.
Like Abi and Dr. Upton, I had questions. I didn’t really see the point of using the recruits as proof of concept. How could they save anyone on earth? To go to Titan, every person would have to be “modified” at an expense of millions of dollars, after which they could no longer live on earth.
I was interested in the majority of The Titan, but the ending left me sputtering. Prof. Collingwood was obsessed to prove he could modify humans, no matter the loss of life. And he proved it, but what good did it do anyone?
The special effects and sets were well done. The Titan was tense and exciting but the ending was a let down.
I liked the relationship between Rick and Abi and their relationship with their son. I liked seeing Agyness Deyn as a doctor. Tom Wilkinson is always good in everything. The performances were all well done.
Have you seen it? I’d like to hear your opinions on this sci fi drama.