Voidance review very British sci-fi movie is like Miss Marple with a space blaster

A British sci-fi film follows anti-terror agent Alana Toro, ordered by a hologrammatic superior to capture a troublesome rebel group amid unrest between neighboring planets. Her mission stalls when she enters a bar for interstellar truckers, where a time-loop device forces repeated interrogations of the same patrons. The loop is used to untangle a stubborn murder mystery that remains convoluted and uninvolving. The production uses grimy, physical set design and cyberpunk costumes that blend pulp and comedic styles. The score feels expansive and assured, and Alana is a promising pulp character. The film’s main issues come from clunky exposition and a time-loop conceit that does not work effectively.

"Amid reported unrest between neighbouring planets Atopia and Cho-Hacha, mumsy anti-terror agent Alana Toro (Zoe Cunningham) receives orders from a hologrammatic James Cosmo to track down and bring in a troublesome rebel group. Her mission stalls, however, when she walks into a bar for interstellar truckers, where the film's horizons shrink and thanks to a time-loop device our heroine gets several goes at interrogating the same skeleton crew of patrons and trying to resolve a convoluted and stubbornly uninvolving murder mystery."

"The grimy, greasy set design (courtesy of Jamie Foote) conceals some of the budgetary limitations, meaning that this is a rare modern sci-fi that inhabits a palpably physical, non-pixellated space. Costume designer Cieranne Kennedy Bell clearly had immense fun dressing this troupe in the sort of cyberpunk finery that is a crossover between Red Dwarf and Claire's Accessories. The score, by Christoph Allerstorfer and James Griffiths, is that of a far more expansive and assured production."

"Alana herself is a promising pulp creation a leather-clad, purple-wigged Miss Marple who gets to pull out a space blaster every now and again even if Cunningham, with her air of a school secretary who's just uncovered a tuck shop scam, seems more than faintly miscast. The problems that torpedo the film are evident and it's not just the title, with its unfortunate intestinal ring."

"The setup entails a lot of deeply clunky expositional dialogue and the time-loop conceit just doesn't work. It is all reliant on a repeated PA announcement that reaches see it, say it, sorted levels of annoyance, and a wristwatch that keeps having to spell out what the direction doesn't alwa"

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