There are things that only happen in a lifetime. This was my main motivation for buying the DVD of Cargo, the only swiss science-fiction movie ever, and maybe the only one. The best way to describe Cargo is to say that it is classical science fiction: 2001, Alien, Matrix are all clear inspirations. The reali­sation is meti­culous, the special are fine (given the budget of the movie), and I really liked the mise en scène which heavily borrows from the science fiction imagery: the space­ship would fit in perfectly in Blade Runner or Firefly, but at the same time gives a good sense of the empti­ness and coldness of space. The use of coulours and themes is also very classical, but efficient nonetheless.

The plot is also quite classical: a spaceship in a dark future and something weird in the holt. The movie is basically a mix of science-fiction themes and ideas and, while the general ideas can be guessed from the synopsis, I still was curious to see where the plot would go. I suppose I’m biased, but I really like the rythm of the movie, and the fact that most of the tension was psychological, the characters are normal people, and the action scenes feel very real because of this.

The result is somehow like a swiss watch of science fiction. Nothing ground breaking, but all the elements have been meticoulously built and fit neatly in place, with all the attention concentrated on the important bits: characters, plot, ambiance, and a refreshing lack of ridiculous action scenes. While the movie is in German, there are English (and French) subtitle available.