A science fiction film searching for truth in the modern world
While “Orion” is an ambitious, standalone space saga, its examination of human nature is decidedly Earth-bound.
The film stars Andrew McCarthy as Jim, a NASA bigwig tasked with helping Apollo (Drew Van Acker), an amnesiac astronaut, figure out what happened to cause his ship to crash and leave the other crew dead. Their back and forth forms the core of the film, as twists and discoveries gradually unfold.
Director Jaco Boyer found a lot of essential elements in Anne Vithayathil’s script for Orion. Audiences will embark on the film’s maiden voyage when it makes its world premiere at FilmQuest in Provo, Utah, on October 25.
“I don’t think we have absolute truth anymore in this world,” he says. “This really touches on that without being too graphic. Science fiction interests me a lot. I like that genre because it’s more of an expressive way of dealing with emotions.”
Bauer credits his collaborators for helping them walk the difficult tightrope of making the two-handed film feel so expansive. He cites McCarthy’s curiosity about the script — which is miles away from the Brat Pack roles that first made him famous — as a big benefit.
“He needs to know exactly what’s going on,” Bauer says of McCarthy. “He portrays Jim in a really good way: there’s a cerebral side to him, he’s the master manipulator. In our film, there’s a moment near the end where we see a bit of the humanity behind it. I find him to be a real professional, and I think his range is much greater than what we’ve seen before.”
Beyond the dialogue, Boyer and his cinematographer David Crotta were careful to make the contained film feel taut and dynamic—no easy feat for an independent production.
“We actually used quite a few different lenses,” Boyer says. “For the flashbacks, we used anamorphic, and we also changed the ratio. We would sometimes use a very wide angle. Most of the effects were done in-camera. For me, performance is always first, so it’s important for the actors to feel that. Because everything happens under one roof, the action is stimulating. So I would come in the morning and we would block it out somehow, and once we did that, I had a meeting with the DP To find out how we can better choreograph a camera that suits them. Sometimes it was just abstract for the sake of appearance, but mostly it was planning their trip and letting the camera follow them or capture them in the best way.
The sparingly used glimpses into other areas of outer space were also crucial, helping to convey the scale of the story – including the stunning final scene.
“Especially that shot at the end, when you step back and see how small and small it is,” Boyer says. “There’s something really great for me, and also emotional and sad, about that image. It’s kind of subliminal, but it was always in the back of my mind to make it feel like there’s something bigger about it. It makes the world bigger, even though it’s a two-location film.”
And while the vastness of the universe is worth considering, Bouwer had the most fun conjuring all the fun and excitement from a small-scale story.
“I was really trying to mislead the public in subtle ways,” he says. “I think it boils down to the performances. If the performances aren’t believable, you’re in big trouble. So I was very happy to have Drew and Andrew as my main guides through this maze of twists and turns.”
Watch the first footage from “Orion” below.