Tribeca 2021: Settlers Review

This will be one of several reviews from this year’s Tribeca film Festival. To follow our coverage, click here.

Settlers can be easily understood as a sci-fi thriller propelled by Stockholm Syndrome. It centers around a family who has decided to leave Earth in search of a better life and in doing so, are exposed to harsh conditions on a remote planet. Their motivation for such a drastic change quickly collides with other inhabitants of the planet as they are forced to reckon with the consequences of past decisions versus the need for survival.

The majority of this sci-fi drama is told from the perspective of Revi, (Brooklyn Prince and Free) a daughter whose parents, Reza (Miller) and Ilsa (Boutella), strive to keep her safe while struggling to forge a new and better world. As their world begins to be challenged, an outsider, Jerry (Ismael Cruz Cordova), forces his way into their lives and reveals a truth that slowly unravels their perceived existence.

In the end, Settlers goes as far as its impeccable cast. Miller and Boutella offer strong performances, showing their character’s complete history with one another, their daughter, and their situation, both past and present. Prince proves just as capable as she is at the film’s emotional center, providing a window into the narrative that the viewer can empathize with from the very beginning. Lastly, Cordova as Jerry delivers a mysterious character whose simple motivations and dialogue help tell a darker story without directly drawing attention to his origin. Despite the strong performances, Settlers still suffers from a lack of exposition. While the narrative relies heavily on the actors, it could’ve benefitted from slightly more exposition.

Ultimately, Settlers is a film that revels in its many questions but chooses never to directly answer them, instead doing so through its characters and subtle dialogue or context clues. Many times this decision can prove to enhance a film’s appeal, however in this case, it slightly hinders the experience resulting in strong and interesting characters juxtaposed with an incomplete tale. Still, its methodology delivering a minimalistic dramatic slow-burn set inside a science fiction thriller is entertaining but still leaves slightly more to be desired.

still courtesy of IFC Films

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