HEMISPHERE

(director/writer: Chris Maes; cinematographer: Joe Tyler; editor: Chris Maes; music: Marcus Manderson; cast: Paige Rion (Sandra Ramirez), Julie Kashmanian (Phoebe Westover), Eduardo Jose Paco (Mateo); Runtime: 90; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Kory Krinsky, James Cappe; Amazon; 2023)

“Futuristic sci-fi mystery thriller.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Chris Maes in his feature film debut is the writer-director of this passable futuristic sci-fi mystery thriller, set in 2047, that leads in the end to a big reveal. The low-budget indie has decent production values, and an intense story. 

The forensic investigator/pilot Sandra Ramirez (Paige Rion) is sent by her corporation boss, her remarried ex-husband, Jim (Eduardo Jose Paco), to investigate the disappearance of the four-person crew of the Altra Mira, a mining station in orbit near Mercury. Sandy finds one of the crew, Phoebe Westover (Julie Kashmanian), hiding in a crawlspace. She reports that the outpost was rampaged by ruthless hijackers, and she has been hiding for seven days, fearing they will return.

Sandra discovers the hijackers have stolen the goods on the outpost and murdered the three missing crew members.

When the hi-jackers return, we don’t see them but we hear them.

The two-hander film leaves us with Phoebe and Sandra, both staying out of sight in their crawlspace, and on occasion speaking on the AI computer unit-Averi (voiced by Lena Vandam) with Jim. We’re left wondering if the ladies will survive.

It’s worth checking out to see how a sci-fi film is handled by those filmmakers without the Big Bucks to go wild over CGI effects.

REVIEWED ON 1/15/2024  GRADE: B-