A new Dark Age has come to Earth after man-made viruses destroyed its ecosystems and killed most animals, including humans. Of those who survived, the rich live in comfort and rule from walled-off citadels. The poor work on remote farms trading the blood of children for patented bio-blocked seeds that must be repurchased every harvest. While others known as pilgrims cover their bodies with thick, black cloaks and wordlessly drag rusty, scavenged metals to a tower reaching towards the sky. This is the world our titular heroine inhabits in Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama, “Vesper.”
Shot in the woodlands of their native Lithuania, the filmmaking duo contrast the lush verdant setting with the harsh reality of this new Earth. 13-year-old Vesper (a star-making turn from Raffiella Chapman) lives in a derelict cabin with her paralyzed father, Darius (Richard Brake), with whom she communicates via a smiley-face adorned drone. She spends her days looking for anything edible, while also sharpening her bio-hacking abilities in hopes that she may one day work in a citadel lab. “You don’t know the cost of dreams,” her father tells her as he encourages her to seek a different future.
Vesper’s life changes irrevocably when discovers a beautiful woman in the forest disoriented after an aerial craft. Dressed in a gorgeous, crimped blue gown, Camellia (an ethereal Rosy McEwen) is clearly from the citadel, stoking Vesper’s hope for salvation. However, she soon discovers Camellia is filled with secrets, and she must keep her safe from those who are hunting her, including her ruthless neighbor, Jonas (Eddie Marsan).
Although there are shades of both “Waterworld” and “The NeverEnding Story,” Buožytė and Samper’s film is more than the sum of its parts. Their worldbuilding is astounding. Through a mixture of VFX and practical effects, they have crafted a world that feels as ancient as it does futuristic. While the buildings are rusted and falling apart, the tech-enhanced flora that has overgrown is wondrous. Trees vibrate and flowers glow like jellyfish. Flying ships and drones that look like insects dart through the sky. Cinematographer Feliksas Abrukauskas brings a richness of light to the world reminiscent of Flemish painting, while the synth-infused score by Dan Levy (“I Lost My Body”) adds to its sci-fi veneer.
Along with the strong worldbuilding, there is a real anger here, and a clear-eyed look at how oligarchs are killing our planet and not that slowly. The idea of seeds that must be repurchased every year isn’t even science-fiction and hasn’t been for decades. Many crops are already patented and locked the same way those at the center of this story are. This is the key to understanding just how evil the rich are, despite all their outward refinement. Few things are more villainous than the hoarding of resources.
And so, in rooting their film in something so real, the emotional core is easily relatable. The desire to be safe, to have the best technology, and to eat the best food is hard to resist. But there is no way to break down those systems from within. Even bartering with them keeps someone like Jonas reliant on them to survive. Vesper soon learns that the only way to regain freedom for the future is to remain outside the system, not just to be self-sufficient, rather to aid real change that will ensure a future for everyone.
There is a ferocity to Chapman’s piercing eyes, but also a deep sadness. This is a young girl, forced to carry burdens by her circumstances well beyond her years. Despite the film’s setting sometime in the future, she channels the anger and vulnerability of Gen Z and Millennials, who are now inheriting all the damage inflicted on this planet by previous generations. While those generations, too, wall themselves off from average citizens, surrounding themselves with the latest technology. Crafting ships that will take an elite few to space, but can’t seem to help those who are starving around the world.
Like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men,” what is so chilling about “Vesper” is how much it is a reflection of our current reality, despite each film’s futuristic setting. Income inequality and ecological destruction are already running rampant. A movie like this shows us a worst-case scenario, but also gives us hope for a better future even if that worst scenario comes true. The final shot of “Vesper” left tears in my eyes, with its roots so deeply planted in the notion that only children are the ones who can bring salvation to us all. [B+]