Whether it is the Alien series or a Korean drama like The Silent Sea, science fiction loves to put scientists in space and then have them face off against an unknown enemy. When the tensions are high, the group begins to argue, then a classic scenario where everyone begins to doubt each other ensues. This formulaic approach leads to predictable moments, one’s audience may gobble up in eager anticipation or groan at the prospects of yet another villain potentially being among the original group. Perhaps the latter has come more into popularity, as the trope keeps appearing again and again without the world completely getting tired of it. That gives us movies like Cryo.
Saban Films has come out with Cryo, due out on June 24, 2022, adding to a resume of indie movies that tend to lie on the fringes of mainstream attention and love. The company recently made headlines as they gained exclusive worldwide rights to Jason Momoa’s upcoming Western movie, which is based on a true story. Cryo, however, lives in a science fiction world of its own, blending elements of mystery and thriller to create a whodunnit scenario to ramp up the stakes as much as it can. Does it achieve that? It honestly may be up to the viewer.
The movie stars Jyllian Petrie (Forget the Rest, The Last Descent), Mason D. Davis (Identical Love, Stalked in Paradise), Emily Marie Palmer (Cobra Kai), Morgan Gunter, Curt Doussett (Phil of the Future), and Michael Flynn. Director Barrett Burgin shares the writing credit with actor Mason D. Davis. This is the duo’s first collaboration together, and Davis’ first effort as a writer for a feature film (he previously wrote a short film). While the characters remain unnamed throughout the movie, this cast brings life to those acting in a world where they only know nothing but each other and the present moment.
Nightmares Only Happen While Awake
The premise of Cryo is simple: five scientists have been put into cryogenic sleep. When they wake up an identified time later, they find themselves trapped inside an underground facility, sealed inside and with no method to escape feasible, with no knowledge of who they are. They do not even remember how long they have been asleep, beginning the mystery behind what happened here. Even the scene where one of the scientists is first seen coming out of the pod is unsettling, and she looks like an alien coming out of a machine womb. This symbolic rebirth sets the harsh tone for the rest of the movie with its gritty, dark coloring.
But there is a plot twist approaching the protagonists: something, or someone, seems to be hunting them down after they find a bloody machete in a room—but there is nobody to accompany it. It all becomes vaguely reminiscent of the Zero Escape video game series, specifically in Last Reward, where all of the participants of a violent, brutal game wake up in what looks to be the basement of a warehouse and find out that their memories are missing. They are then forced to participate in a game of life and death, one in which they may need to sacrifice each other to gain the chance to escape from their confines.
As the characters from Cryo move from room to room, they fall into specific archetypes, asking some of the obvious questions and providing exposition about the Inventor, who created the place that they are inside of. Even with their memories gone, one of the characters can conveniently explain some of the place’s mechanisms and shows awareness about the Inventor, breaking this moment of amnesia for a moment. The movie’s driving force and conflict is the fact that these people are trapped here at first, but as it mutates into a game of cat and mouse as food goes missing, the machete is found, and there are several arguments about who exactly the Inventor might be and if he is down there with them.
An Experiment That Could Go Either Way
At the core of the story, Cryo begins with an experiment. That is what brought the characters to this place, and as the story tangles itself and the plot becomes more complicated, it becomes an experiment on their patience and deduction abilities. Even when a character manages to go beyond the airlock exit and see what is outside their confines, they return wide-eyed, unable to put to words exactly what they saw. That seems to be a summary of what Cryo could be, as the slow beginning may be off-putting to a casual viewer.
From a technical standpoint, the movie looks good. Its coloring adds to the darker atmosphere that the characters experience, making the shadows seem elongated and their faces wearier as the situation worsens. Some shots may seem like they may not need to belong in the grand scheme of things, and the murky audio placed underneath the dialogue adds a more subtle layer of depth. It looks and feels realistic, grounding the story in something more familiar to the average viewer’s eye. These are people who are like someone one would see on the street, and to see them placed in this scenario adds even more to the story, even if this is a subconscious observation.
Though it may be daring to say that Cryo may be an experiment itself, it comes across like that at times. It employs a nontraditional mode of storytelling, choosing to slowly reveal information and contexts through the use of character flashbacks, which is convenient but keeps the tension and mystery alive. This is not a novelty or something completely new, but with the many plot twists that come throughout, it goes through a balancing act between the present and past. There are many whodunnit stories released in the past couple of years, ranging from Agatha Christie adaptations to a hit like Knives Out, all of which somehow seem to include Kenneth Branagh. The mashup of the genre in this movie makes it stand out from traditional whodunnit often seen in the movie and television worlds, making it an interesting case study that seems almost like a nod to some of its science fiction predecessors.
Cryo Meets Expectations
Cryo does its judge for an indie film, and while it could be executed better in some aspects, it is fairly understandable due to the limitations of the movie’s budget. This is not a Hollywood blockbuster, and, coming from that angle, it seems almost harsh to dig into the movie about special effects. However, despite being an indie movie, Cryo is up there in terms of quality. It does not feel like it is missing something specific unless one is coming in with a very certain expectation, defying its destiny to be completely lost in the void of indie science fiction.
The movie does not come without its pitfalls though. At times the pace tends to drag, and it seems like the movie could not have been as long as it was. Often the characters are shown going through rooms, and because they are trapped inside such a limited space as a whole, there is only so much that be shown without any dialogue. Those slower moments bog down the frantic nature of their situation and any panic the characters may be feeling, thus moving the focus away from the problem at hand and steadily decreasing the immersive world the film has created.
The characters themselves also become a point of interest, as their backgrounds are explored too in-depth, also taking away from the mystery elements. It seems unnecessary to include extensive details on these characters and who they were outside of a certain point. Their memories come back gradually and without a specific reason, sprinkling in some exposition that could be useful, but instead trying to be more than what it is. The acting, too, overall feels stiff at times, almost as if certain exchanges are forced, movements jerky as the camera move with them. Their chemistry, too, feels off, which may be intentional to create the nature of suspicion between them but feels awkward for a good majority of the movie.
In the end, Cryo may be an average movie, but an excellent indie movie. It loses its themes and messages as it becomes too bound in its inner workings, clocking in at a run time that is just under two hours. There is an abundant amount of potential in its story and characters, but the execution could have been better. That does not make it bad or unwatchable—it simply needs the right audience that holds the patience and compassion to keep going with it.
Cryo will be out in theaters on June 24, and VOD and streaming four days later on June 28.