I snagged movie tickets for a 6 pm showtime of Voyagers at Cinemark on opening night (April 8).
FYI: this article about the Voyagers movie is spoiler-free, but I’m going to describe some parts and my overall impression. (I’m not a film critic, just a regular person who likes watching movies!)
What is Voyagers about?
Voyagers, written and directed by Neil Burger of Limitless fame, is one of the many new weekend movie releases out now in theatres. Starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, and Colin Farrell, the YA sci-fi/thriller follows a group of young men and women who are on a multigenerational voyage to colonize a new planet, far far away. Since the space voyage spans an entire lifetime, the group of young astronauts is expected to foster a new generation that will eventually become the future of humankind.
“When they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures,” Lionsgate describes in the synopsis. “As life on the ship descends into chaos, they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power.”
Basically, as multiple critics have noted, it’s Lord of the Flies but in space, lol. Honestly I’m here for it.
Watch the Voyagers trailer here:
My experience watching Voyagers on opening night
I opted to buy movie tickets for a D-BOX theatre that claims to “change the way you watch movies.” Considering I’ve been watching movies on a 55” TV screen (and even on my 13” laptop screen), I was intrigued by this immersive option.
“We remove the line between you and the screen to create hyper-realistic, immersive, one-of-a-kind entertainment experiences that pull you into the story like never before,” Cinemark says about D-BOX.
It’s not considered a theme-park ride experience, and each seat has a remote so you can control the level of intensity. Each seat also lounges and is super plush and comfy.
After securing a bag of popcorn, a Diet Coke (idk why but Diet Coke hits different at the movie theater), and m&ms, I headed into the movie theater with my phone on Do Not Disturb, ready for two hours of pure escapism.
The D-BOX seats were actually pretty cool. During space scenes, it kind of felt like I was floating through space. During intense fight scenes, I “felt” the hits. When the music got loud, the seat would vibrate. It is definitely worth the upgrade!
My initial impression of Voyagers
Let me start by saying that I *love* YA sci-fi books and movies. I stan The Hunger Games trilogy, Divergent (which Neil Burger directed), etc. The premise of Voyagers intrigued me.
The fact that these young adults will live their entire life in the controlled environment of a spaceship is wild to me…even if I don’t fully understand how at least two generations can live full lives on a single spaceship. I always get curious about the little details: what they eat, how they spend their free time, what types of entertainment they consume, etc.
I found myself wishing there was a bit more character development and deeper immersion into their spaceship lifestyle before the conflict started. The conflict also seemed a little ridiculous, but maybe that’s the point.
Since I went to a 6 pm showtime when I walked out of the movie theater, the sun was setting and it was absolutely stunning to take in the beautiful sky after feeling like I was trapped on a spaceship for two hours.
Saw #voyagers in theaters earlier tonight and walked out to a beautiful sunset. you just can’t get moments like this watching movies at home. pic.twitter.com/ONi6Lazq67
— Jaime Hutkin (she/her) (@jaimemere) April 9, 2021
Overall, despite Voyager’s mixed reviews, and my own eye-rolls and chuckles at different moments of the movie, I have absolutely zero regrets going to see it in theaters. I went with one of my friends and we both got to share that experience together. My friend tends to prefer horror movies while I like rom-coms, so Voyagers seemed like a good compromise. He randomly grabbed my leg at moments to scare me and laughed when he saw me reacting to suspenseful moments. Even though he didn’t love the movie (he later texted me to say “surprised we watched it all lol”) he was grateful for the experience, and so was I.
When I got home, I got to talk all about the movie and sci-fi movies in general with my roommate. If it weren’t for me leaving the house to see Voyagers, we wouldn’t have had such a stimulating conversation. If I had just watched it at home, I would have just moved on quickly to another movie or TV show or started scrolling TikTok again.
There’s something magical about the movies. It takes you to another world, even though the theater is just a few minutes down the road. When you “re-enter” the real world, the story sticks with you, regardless of your opinion of the movie.
Buy movie tickets and view movie showtimes for Voyagers right here.
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