''Settlers'' is a 2021 British

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Wyatt Rockefeller. It had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

on 18 June 2021. It was released on 23 July 2021 in the United States by

IFC Midnight Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent features under its own name, select fo ...

Plot

A small family in a lonely outpost on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

is attacked by bandits. One of the bandits, Jerry, survives and kills the family father. He attempts to integrate into the family, demanding thirty days to prove himself to the survivors, mother Ilsa and her daughter Remmy. Over time, Ilsa seems to warm to him, but after thirty days, Ilsa tries to shoot him. She fails as the magazine of the gun that Jerry intentionally left was empty, and Jerry kills her in the ensuing struggle. Remmy, who resents Jerry's presence, grows sullen and spends much of her time with "Steve", a pet-like robot found in a storage unit. Remmy also discovers that their farm is within a large force field bubble that keeps breathable air inside. This makes clear that the bandits came from outside or another similarly shielded area. Years pass, and Remmy, now a young woman, remains sullen and almost completely silent around Jerry. They have an argument over whether to have a child, and Remmy decides to run away, but Jerry stops her from doing so. He ties her up and attempts to rape her, but Steve blasts Jerry in the neck with its power-drilling attachment. Remmy frees herself and kills Jerry. Now alone, she decides to depart, leaving Steve to tend the outpost.

Cast

Sofia Boutella Sofia Boutella (; born 3 April 1982) is an Algerian actress, dancer and model. Born in Algiers, she emigrated to Paris at the age of 10. Shortly thereafter, she started rhythmic gymnastics, joining the French national team at the age of 18. She b ...

as Ilsa *

Ismael Cruz Córdova Ismael Enrique Cruz Córdova (born April 7, 1987) is a Puerto Rican actor who gained national attention for his role as Mando on ''Sesame Street''. Other credits include ''The Good Wife'' (2011), '' In the Blood'' (2014), ''Exposed'' (2016), '' ...

as Jerry * Brooklynn Prince as Younger Remmy **

Nell Tiger Free Nell Tiger Free (born 13 October 1999) is an English actress and singer. She began her career as a child actress in the films '' Mr Stink'' and '' Broken'' (both 2012). She also played Myrcella Baratheon in seasons 5 and 6 of the HBO series ' ...

as Older Remmy *

Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is an English actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy in '' Hackers'' (1995) before ...

as Reza * Natalie Walsh as Female Stranger * Matthew Van Leeve as Male Stranger

Release

In April 2021,

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the

on 18 June 2021. It was released on 23 July 2021.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Settlers'' is serious to a fault, but viewers seeking a non-sensationalistic look at

space colonization Space colonization (or extraterrestrial colonization) is the human settlement, settlement or colonization of outer space and astronomical bodies. The concept in its broad sense has been applied to any permanent human presence in space, such ...

may find this a rewarding voyage." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links