This is a strange one, folks.
It is also not what you think it is. After all, most of the canned descriptions start with events which are not disclosed until most of the way into the film.
Which, I suppose, is what you have to do to find a simple narrative which explains what this film is about.
But then, that’s because this is not a film with anything remotely resembling a simple narrative.
A young woman who works as a codebreaker for the CIA is called in on a mysterious mission to retrieve a satellite which fell somewhere in Serbia, along with a NASA scientist, a CIA agent who’s due for retirement, and a Serbian Security Agent.
Only there is no sign of the satellite when they get there, and the team finds itself caught up in an increasingly bizarre series of events which might have something to do with an unthinkable disaster which happened Forty years earlier.
Those who go into this Serbian made, English language movie expecting what’s in those canned summaries will find it slow: it takes its time crafting an uncanny atmosphere and ever mounting tension as things get stranger and stranger. Rather than a straightforward science fiction or space exploration film, The Rift is closer to a haunted house story
Don’t expect monsters, in other words, or lots of space effects. This is a creepy film which offers only the most minimal explanations and a totally out-to-lunch ending which might mean almost anything.
Hey, I’m always in favor of a slow-burn film which leaves your skin crawling, and I love the high-concept film everyone struggles to understand.
But it is even more fun when you can get them both in the same package.
The Rift definitely won’t please everyone, but it is worth a look, particularly for those who like their Sci Fi horror strange.
But it may leave you looking at Astronauts in a new light…
rivets on the poster 