Cargo (2009) User Reviews

Interesting and mysterious, but somewhat problematic

[Samiam3 · 6/10 · 14 December 2010]

Cargo is dazzling, mystifying, sometimes scary, and is able to manipulate a rather familiar plot to seem less familiar. That last one however, is just as much a weakness as it is a strength. The film's problems are not on the screen, but on the pages.

Cargo contains a weighty story line, with questionable focus and a lack of coherency. There are also places where the movie feels draggy and repetitive. Characterization gets off the ground but not quite to the degree of emotion that was probably intended.

Anyone who sees Cargo is gonna wish they had seen it in theatres. Its greatest achievement is photography. I liked Cargo for its mystique and stylistic choices, but the writing and construction need a tune up. Its facade is perfect but its soul is murky, and its story is disoriented which does not allow us to appreciate Cargo to the full.

Something Is Missing to Be a Great Sci-Fi

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 8 September 2012]

In 2270, Earth is completely depleted and no one lives there anymore. Those that have money move to Rhea; but most of the population lives in orbit in space stations. Dr. Laura Portmann (Anna Katharina Schwabroh) decides to work in the cargo ship Kassandra in an eight year travel to Station 42 that is in orbit of RH278 to raise money to meet her sister Arianne (Maria Boettner) in Rhea. They keep in touch with each other, but their messages take three years to reach the other.

Laura joins Captain Pierre Lacroix (Pierre Semmler) and his crew composed by the First Officer Anna Lindbergh (Regula Grauwiller); Communication Officer Miyuki Yoshida (Yangzom Brauen) and Igor Prokoff (Claude-Oliver Rudolph) and Claudio Vespucci (Michael Finger). The Sky Marshall Samuel Decker (Martin Rapold) joins the team since the terrorist group Luddites, led by Klaus Bruckner, is bombing the stations. Lacroix organizes shifts of eight and half months for each crew-member while the others rest in cryogenic sleep.

Three years and eight months later, Laura finds that there is apparently someone in the cargo compartments and Decker and Lacroix are awakened to investigate the incident with her; however, Lacroix has an accident and dies and the crew is waken up. Further, she finds that Arianne's transmission to her took only twenty minutes. What might be the secret of the cargo transported by Kassandra and where the spaceship is going?

"Cargo" is a Swiss sci-fi film with a mysterious and suspenseful story visibly inspired on "Abre los Ojos" (the same way "Matrix" was), in an environment that recalls "Alien". Unfortunately something is missing to be a great sci-fi.

I saw this film twice on DVD to fully understand the story and maybe the problem is the excessive information along 112 minutes running time. Maybe "Cargo" could be a little longer to better develop the status quo of Earth, government and Luddites. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Cargo"

Is it really a trip worth taking?

[Quebec_Dragon · 7/10 · 9 March 2012]

We have here a rather interesting sci-fi film in the vein of Sunshine, Moon or Solaris, where most of the action takes place in an isolated, enclosed artificial environment. It's in the future, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable for some undisclosed reason, and people live in squalid conditions on space stations in orbit. There's a new heavenly planet, Rhea, where people can emigrate to if they can afford it. Our main character, a doctor, gets hired for a very long (8 years) shuttle cargo round trip to resupply a remote space station. With her salary, she should be able to rejoin her sister already on Rhea. She, like the other crew members, is in cryogenic sleep most of the time except for 8-month awake shifts. As one can suspect, she starts hearing strange noises, senses some kind of presence in what should be a deserted ship. She wakes up a few people, and then things get worse when somebody gets killed.

One would think that this would be a premise for some kind of thriller involving a nasty alien creature. Cargo is not really that. Sure, it has good suspenseful moments, but it's the kind of slow-paced atmospheric pensive movie where you're more likely to be interested in the unfolding secondary mysteries than on discovering who the killer is, or who might be struck next. At least that was the case for me. My mind was going in overdrive trying to figure things out, inventing hypotheses, and I like that. Unfortunately, and I don't know if it's a translation issue from the original German (although it's a Swiss film), certain important plot elements were not made clear when they should have been. I had to check the Internet afterwards to properly understand a few things. Don't worry, we're not talking 2001 metaphysics here, far from it. :)

The characters were rather stoic most of the time, but at least they were ambiguous and not easily predictable. A particular blossoming romance didn't feel quite right, especially how it started. It somewhat hurt the emotional involvement later on, although you can see the director really tried for a good pay-off. I thought the main actress lacked a certain something, but she became more convincing as the film progressed, especially in one of her final scenes involving greenery. The special effects were of tremendous quality especially for a non-American film. Every space structure from the outside looked amazing. On the inside, it was appropriately dismal, sinister and even grandiose sometimes. I think Cargo might disappoint if you're expecting something more action-oriented. I personally enjoyed the story despite certain badly explained plot elements. I also liked it more from an intellectual perspective than from an emotional perspective.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (Good)

Watch Original German Version!

[pirhan_chan · 19 March 2011]

I've watched this in the English dubbed version. It was horrible. The voice actors had no emotion in their voice which made the movie very dull and drawn out. In the English version, the character development was zilch. Be ware of the captioning as well - things like "enjoyable" in the audio become "unpleasant" (so the complete opposite of what the character is saying) in the captioning. You aren't drawn to the characters so you don't really care what happens to them.

The plot was okay but in no means fantastic. If you enjoyed movies like The Matrix and Sunshine (though without the science background in Sunshine) you might enjoy Cargo. Just make sure you watch it in the original German!

a competent sci-fi

[thisissubtitledmovies · 6/10 · 31 August 2010]

Switzerland's first attempt at sci-fi, and Ivan Engler's first feature film, Cargo harks back to numerous icons of science fiction cinema – everything from The Thing to The Matrix, and, most notably, Ridley Scott's Alien. It belongs to that particular breed of dystopian science fiction – where the world is ruined and the human race is living on borrowed time.

Cargo is a competent sci-fi, but it's nothing special. The first half is effectively tense and engaging, but it loses its way towards the end. Visually stunning considering the budget, but unfortunately, it's nowhere near original or creative enough to be considered a particularly revolutionary sci-fi film. SSP

Could have been a masterpiece

[hypersonic8999 · 6/10 · 4 January 2017]

Cargo presents a very familiar premise: A dystopian future with a desolate Earth is the backdrop for a thriller set in the confines of a cargo ship.

And while it starts off as what seems to be the usual Alien clone, it quickly evolves into a very complex mystery, with a far-reaching story arc. If I were to rate the first hour of the film it would be a solid 8/10 suspenseful hard sci-fi mystery/thriller.

However, after the first hour problems begin to arise. The plot starts having cracks. Characters start doing irrational things with hardly any explanation, simply so that their actions can act as a vehicle for the next scene. The mystery reveals itself but the implications it presents are mishandled. The movie starts dropping speed and stretches itself without any real need to do so. (And I have to say this but I hate it when characters are told they have X minutes left to do something important, but they take their time to walk slowly from point A to point B as if they have no cares in the world).

I think the creators could have done a far better job and it's a shame that they didn't because the film excels in most other sectors. Aside from the flaws I mentioned above, the characters are not explored much, but what we do see of them is consistent and believable. The art direction really nailed it, and with a better CGI budget they could have blown minds. And although the direction aboard the ship was discreet, it nevertheless impresses.

I'll give more chances to the people who made this, they certainly deserve it. If you enjoy space sci-fi thrillers, with an emphasis on hard sci-fi, you will probably enjoy this.

Interesting, worth the time to watch at least once . . .

[charles000 · 7/10 · 26 September 2018]

Maybe not the absolute best of the genre, but certainly is worth the time to watch.

It's a bit difficult to describe some of the more interesting aspects of this production without accidentally providing spoilers, so my rendering of such here might be a bit limited.

At the very least, the visuals are remarkably well done.

The basic concept is the cargo ship going into deep space with its mysterious cargo, and the theoretical world Rhea, which is supposed to be a beautiful paradise of a world, as an alternative to Earth which has been ravaged by horrific industrial pollution, disease and environmental damage.

However, as this journey progresses, various layers of intrigue begin to become apparent, nothing is as it seems to be at first . . . and that's about as far I'll go in portraying the story.

I thoroughly recommend seeing this in its original German with subtitles.

The acting is well done, even though there are a few spots in the story that are a bit of a cliche'. Stylistically some scenes are very reminiscent of the original Alien film scenes, but this is not about alien lifeforms causing havoc on the ship, quite different actually.

Given the overall caliber of this production, definitely rates a solid seven stars.

Good start, but not quite there.

[SidewinderSMR · 7/10 · 11 January 2011]

Rented this from blockbuster and just saw it. The movie has a good premise, and even some original ideas; I certainly had guesses as to where the plot was going, but I was pleasantly surprised up till near the end -- the director/writer didn't take the easy way and do something similar to Sunshine, for example.

The visuals are good to great, especially considering the low budget for the movie. The acting, in my opinion, was quite fine and even pretty good -- though characters started getting less believable near the end, as did the premise.

Hopefully the director/writer will continue to do more science fiction flicks and improve on his technique!

Get out your Sci-fi tropes bingo cards

[juliankennedy23 · 5/10 · 18 August 2019]

Cargo (2009): 5 out of 10: Get out your Sci-fi tropes bingo cards Cargo is here to play. A Swiss production (Really Swiss?.. hmm) in German with English subtitles Cargo is a low budget story about a young female doctor (Anna Katharina Schwabroh) who signs on for a eight-year hitch on a cargo ship to pay for her ticket to a new paradise where her sister lives now that the Earth is uninhabitable. Along the way she learns that all is not as it seems.

The Good: The special effects are really good in Cargo. Not just for a low budget film either. The Space Station at the beginning resembles The Citidel from Mass Effect and is probably the best realization I have ever seen of a large habitable orbital space platform in film.

The titular cargo ship Kassandra is also well thought out with some nice touches such as a new way to look at hibernation pods and a realistic view of futuristic medicine. The Kassandra seems vaguely familiar though with its large dark metal corridors, flickering lights, large fans that seem to serve no purpose, and water dripping down from the ceiling in rain so constantly that every corridor seems a flooded dark strobe lighted... Oh God, they are on the Nostromo.

The Bad: Yup check off Alien on that bingo card. The cargo ship Kassandra is such a copy on the Nostomo fans of the Alien franchise probably know their way around it better than the crew. I have forgotten to mention you would have also already checked off Blade Runner for the opening space station complete with product placement. (Though due to an unfortunate coincidence between cash grab product placement and the plot of the film I am pretty sure that RE/MAX is the actual villain of this piece.)

It just continues down this trope-filled path. All the signs in English and Kanji as in Blade Runner and later Firefly this despite the crew speaking exclusively German. And then there is The Matrix. Spoiler alert... the second have of the film steals the plot from the Matrix so blatantly it might as well have put everyone in black trenchcoats. It probably would have helped with all the rain down the dark wet strobe lighted corridors that our characters walk down endlessly for what quickly becomes a very leisurely two hours.

The Ugly: Now I am down for a blatant Alien ripoff. Parasite and Forbidden World are some good times at the movies. I can't begin to describe how well Cargo nails the Nostromo. (except for the cargo hold which is taken wholesale from Cube. Do you have bingo yet?) They have everything. A bearded captain (the late Pierre Semmler), a crew member that we all assume is an android (Yangzom Brauen. She turns out not to be an android which was honestly a disappointment. This character as aside drove my wife crazy as she wore wired headphones the entire film which looks out of place in 2019 let alone 2270 when this film is supposed to take place.), they even have the equivalent of a cat in the form of a young Korean girl which our heroine has to go back for. Do you know what they don't have? A killer xenomorph stalking the hallways. Which is the reason Alien can get away with people wandering around these dark wet strobe lighted hallways for an hour and this movie cannot.

There are more issues. Having a romance where everyone is clothed and speaking German is a hill to climb under the best of circumstances. Neither Anna Katharina Schwabroh nor her tepid love interest Sky Marshall Martin Rapold is up to the task. In fact, the acting is a bit of a flat line across the board. The script does no one any favors and though the stakes get higher our ability to care has long left the building.

In Conclusion: This isn't a horrible time at the movies by any means. It is well designed and has great set design and special effects. The film certainly could have used a serious editor to pick up the pace a bit but its greatest crime is that it has no reason to exist. It tells us nothing new cribbing wholeheartedly from others. Yet it lacks the excitement or even exploitation the best copycats bring to the table. Also, it takes place in 2270 but everyone has handguns, in space, on a cargo ship, without even an alien to shoot at. Ugh.

A polished shell, not more

[bakchu · 6/10 · 28 November 2010]

A clichéd space science fiction movie with a mediocre story, lacking any surprises, and certainly suffering from some plot holes. However. The imagery is quite beautiful, the actors aren't bad, and the simple, unoriginal story is nicely told. So, it's a shame that these people, although they are obviously capable of making a film that is technically nearly faultless on a low budget, couldn't come up with a better, more interesting story to tell. I really liked the pacing of "Cargo", the certain calmness in the unfolding of events, a rather dreamlike, slow but unstoppable progression. If only this polished shell of a movie were a little bit more than this, a mere shell! Sadly, it isn't. Still, let's hope that this wasn't the last science fiction effort of directors Engler and Etter; I would very much like to see them adapting a better story.

The weakest link in a chain detemins it's strength

[smilingdevil · 4/10 · 20 June 2010]

OK, Fist of all: I was severely impressed by the fact that I could not find an (what I thought to be) English original Soundtrack.. I was misled by the looks of this movie as to be a lower budget Hollywood offspring.. whoa, OK, so the Original Soundtrack is German.. interesting! Actually (as I learned now) it's swizz made.. Well Swizerland is famous for cheese, and the main feature of most cheese is.. holes in it! To bad the went with that..

First, I must say the props and the looks are very very good, and I must also say more CGI would not have been necessary for me... but even in the first 20 minutes I start noticing Logic holes that are just not right.. Like: The Space station consists of rotating rings (the rotation creates artificial gravity), but when our main character enters the axis of such a Ring, she does not become weightless or anything.. she just walks through there, OK, Door passed, thank you.. Although the Bulk door (and the camera zooms in on that to show this nice detail) has a sign saying "beware of change of gravity (or such..) But. Aaaahhh!! Logic! If I make the effort of creating such a nice setup and details as the Rotating station (which use was explained back in Stanley Cubricks 2001 Space Oddyssey), why don't I stay with it? OR put in a feature that explains why she's not floating around..

.. and irrational acting of the characters.. Like in the scene where she discovers the "Maschinenstürmer" Activist who is a stowaway on board.. They Struggle, and someone shoots him, and the FIRST thing she does is like taking a good look around.. going through the stuff she finds.. not asking herself who just saved her life maybe? (the question kind of comes up about 2 Minutes later.. but is never really given much weight) Then, The oppressive regime that is obviously creating this whole lie about Reha is not monitoring the data streams? hello?? Opressice Regime 101 is what? Like she can upload her (what must look like from the perspective of the Regime) terrorist message right to the Newsfeed of the Spacestation back close to earth to kick off a riot ? Like she can share(via what i take as an equivalent of a cellphone) very very confidential about what they just found in the Cargo section (that they are not at all allowed to pen, but hey..) information with her Sister, and no one notices this? The Ship has NO movement sensor whatsoever to actually monitor the crew on the ship while only one person is supposed to be on watch? And, yea, they travel 4 Years to an ass end of Space, blow up some communication device.. and no one can actually go there and Fix it, just to declare this another failed attempt of the (from the oppressive regime POV) Terrorists..? There is more of these Logic errors in there, Like Message traveling Time: It was used at some point in the plot, and then totally ignored at another. She notices the response time of her sister is increasing and therefore that they are closing in on reha. She even discusses this with the tech engineer who says "it usually takes months", but later her Message from Reha back to earth about the truth of Reha is received there almost instantly..

... and so on... I must say this really ruined the movie for me. It could have been Great, the looks and the feel is super, the Story setup is good, Nice twist in the story, the revealing of the true evil is kind of foreseeable but still good, the acting is kind of stiff sometimes, but OK... but the logic.. I can't go with that. And the discrepancy between the bad Script writing's missing logic and the rest of the movie is so huge! Like usually crappy scripts also have a crappy looking movie and bad actors.. here. One aspect messes it up for the rest.

So sad Axel

A really nice indie movie!

[dkatsafouros · 8/10 · 27 March 2010]

First of all I'm a bit curious about the low rating of the movie here (6,4). This is a great movie raising all sorts of questions to the viewer. Which is what a good movie is supposed to do. Identity, sense of belonging, isolation, and the essence of the human nature are just some of the things the movie touches on. Yeah there are plot points that have been explored before in other movies but seriously who cares? It's how you portray those situations and plot. So I wasn't disappointed there. In fact I wasn't disappointed at all!! A brilliant film that will speak to the audience that loved, "moon".

Congrats to all the people involved in this movie. Hope someday it'll be released on Bluray.

A human soul and twisted plot that drowns you in or kicks you out

[kluseba · 7/10 · 11 April 2011]

This movie is a nice and surprising little gem. I decided to give it a try because the main plot seemed interesting and because I found it particular that an independent science-fiction movie would come from Switzerland. As I know that this country has a technical avantgarde status with experiments like the CERN and as it is rather isolated and independent, I was expecting a rather unique movie.

Well, the film seems not that unique and could have easily been a small Hollywood production. The slightly dystopian movie reminds first of a mixture of the stories of "Alien" or "Equilibrium" but it turns out very soon that the movie takes a different direction that rather reminds of "Wall-E" that may surprise you.

The movie has a philosophical drama touch and interesting twists that hides a lack of true suspense or horror feeling that could have been established with the main idea. In that way, the movie is not what one might expect in many ways and different from the Hollywood movies I have mentioned before. If you are looking forward for an action filled flick involving aliens, robots or galactic battles, this movie isn't for you. Now, what is this movie? It's a very human conspiracy movie with some suspense and drama scenes that is essentially carried by an intriguing story and twisted development. The movie is slow paced, atmospheric and focuses on the essential main plot without much diversity. On a positive note, one must also point out the stunning visual effects for such a low budget production. The care for the details is very much present in this movie.

While all these things would lead to a rating of at least eight points or more, there are a few reasons why I rate this interesting independent movie down. First of all, the characters don't always turn out to be what they are, but I feel that they are still not profound enough. The basis of the love story and its tragic ending seems a little bit unclear and unbelievable concerning the male part. The decisions and actions of the two men on board of the spaceships seem quite dumb and inappropriate and I feel that those characters could have been developed more. The main villain could have also been a little bit more clever and menacing. I feel that all the characters of the movie are shown and developed underneath the possibilities. The whole thing feels like a "light" version of a more complex and detailed plot or main idea with the exception of the main female character.

In the end, "Cargo" is a visually stunning and very human conspiracy movie with an interesting twist and a few drama and suspense influences. While the story is well thought, the characters don't keep what they seem to promise and should have been more developed. And if you don't get attracted by the main plot and twist, there is not much left that carries this movie as it already has some lengths. You may positively recognize the visual effects and efforts from the independent staff from an objective point of view but from a subjective point of view you either get drowned into the plot or you won't get into it at all. I got drowned into that plot and enjoyed the movie even if there are some slight flaws that lead me to take off one or two points that rather subjective users giving eight or nine points wouldn't take off. But someone that doesn't like the twisted story may only give about half of the points to this flick.

Either you get into the story or you may feel apart. That's why I would suggest to rent this movie instead of buying it. It's an exotic gem and somewhat unusual science-fiction movie that has not much to do with science but rather with fiction but a very human soul connected to it.

Sorry, but this is just TERRIBLE.

[sir_clive · 2/10 · 22 February 2015]

I really enjoy a good sci-fi, actually I even enjoy a mediocre one, but this movie is a mess from the start to the end! It's so full of ****, it's not even funny!

Full-power thrusters on for the whole flight, ship moving approximately at the speed of light (as far as I was able to understand from the dialogs), then some 100m before the station they just turn them off and, like, stop?

Explosions in the vacuum of the space?

What now, are they flying to Station 42 or not?

Lights randomly going off, then on, in a different color, just for a cheap thrill.

How in the world was that guy able to find the cryo container with the sister? And how comes he just knew the sister could not be awaken?

That little girl, awakens from a dream-like "simulation" to find herself separated from her parents on a worn down space ship, and she never says a word? Never shows any kind of being scared? I have kids, a kid in that situation would be TERRIFIED! Oh what, *I* would be terrified! Think about Neo waking up into the real world in Matrix, and multiply that with 100.

Evil company hiding the fact that the Earth is habitable again... for what reason? What's in it for the company? How comes nobody except a few terrorists know about Earth being habitable?

Speaking of terrorists, why don't they just show the videos of the habitable earth to the people, instead of blowing up "bases" (and, I suppose, killing people in the process), in the fight against the "machines"?

The movie is filled up with product placement (at least at the beginning - BP, Lenovo, OSRAM), it's a mixture of ideas from Firefly (chinese text all over the place), Alien series (even the two maintenance crew members are a pale copy of the original Nostromo maintenance crew), Matrix and probably a few more movies I didn't realize.

Not an ounce of originality, not an ounce of a story one could actually believe in, and, frankly, not even scary. There is no sense, no message, no nothing in this movie. I wonder how it could receive so many positive reviews here.

Bizare

[justin-115-441359 · 25 July 2011]

Not sure what I was watching here it look like some one had stuck a few movies together

Blade Runner, 2001 A apace Odessy, Alien and the Matrix. Its hard to be original I know.

Of course the usual rules of Sci Fi are followed,

There is gravity inside the spaceship, non outside big scary spaceships must have leaking water everywhere because there are no plumbers in space. Air Ducts can take you anywhere in a space ship You must get through the giant door before it closes. Terrorists have beards Really bad Terrorists have even bigger beards

Although some new rules where introduced: In the future space ships wont have hand rails There will be snow inside them Space suits will accommodate Obese people Everyone can use a hand gun, in fact every one is space will get one

If you disregard the ending, it's great!

[IDontRideBarrels · 7/10 · 26 March 2014]

Cargo starts out promising. The acting is decent with believable characters, the atmosphere is incredible (reminds me of Alien), and there aren't any big complaints to be had as things get moving. The plot accelerates nicely and the film rolls along smoothly. For a somewhat low-budget film (~5 million USD) this is well done.

The plot is essentially this: In the distant future, the Earth has become uninhabitable and people live on space stations until they can afford to go to a Utopian planet named Rhea. Cargo centers around a spaceship ferrying building materials from Earth's orbit to a distant space station (designated "42") which is supposed to be a waypoint-in-progress, although things don't quite go as planned.

--MINOR SPOILERS--

Unfortunately, many important points are never actually explained: how the Earth's ecosystem was destroyed, how the space stations were built, how people were moved there from Earth, when Rhea was found, what happened on Rhea, etc. There's a LOT of missing background information and this detracts from the film.

The CPR scene is just embarrassingly bad. The ladder scene not long after is unnecessarily dramatized. The crew members of the ship don't seem to remember that the cargo moves (supposedly to avoid freezing?) and that it could be dangerous to investigate the cargo bay. So there's plot hole number one.

Aside from these two bits, and the emerging this-doesn't-make-sense love story between Laura/Decker, the movie continues to do well. Then some bigger problems begin to arise.

--MAJOR SPOILERS--

When the stowaway is discovered and dies, Laura decides to not wonder who shot him. Instead she finds pictures and video of Decker and the stowaway, who somehow inexplicably have built a farm on Earth. It's never explained how they travel between Earth and the space stations, or how Decker got his position and ended up on the ship.

The colonization of Rhea turned out to be a failure and a space station was built orbiting it. As people arrive at the planet, they're hooked up to a simulator on the space station instead of being brought out of cryo-sleep and sent to the planet surface (as they would have expected). This process is flawless enough that no one notices.

The first problem here is that this isn't made too clear. The other problems are HOW and WHY? Nobody seems to operate the station (which we assume is the aforementioned 42, but there's no way to tell for sure)... so is the process automated? The unloading of cargo from the ships appears to be automatic, but someone or something would have to open the containers and hook people up to the simulator. We never see how this done and it's difficult to imagine that everything would be automated. Leaving all those people and all that technology alone without people to even perform maintenance or anything? The people in the simulation seem to be decomposing so there definitely isn't much - if any - upkeep. Shipping more people to this space station seems like a gargantuan mistake.

As for the "why," this is important. Since it's never explained how the colonization of Rhea failed, it must have been pretty catastrophic in order to justify building a space station to house everyone. But why stay near Rhea? It takes YEARS to travel from Earth to Rhea, which is a massive consumption of time and resources. What's the point of keeping 42 so far away from Earth? It would have been much cheaper to build it in Earth's solar system. The government could control space travel to the point where no one would find out what was going on.

So we don't know what happened on Rhea or why people were put in a simulator, why 42 is so far away from Earth, among other things. But wait, it gets worse.

The plan to blow up the antennae after entering the simulation is a bit silly. First Laura has an issue with her thrusters, but she's conveniently found and saved by Decker. When she's exiting the simulation he gives her his fuel and tells her to go on without him, because the ship could leave at any moment. Laura had a problem with her navigation/thrusters, though, not fuel. There's no guarantee that she can make her way to the ship, and probably never will if there's actually a problem with her suit. Why is the ship leaving so soon, anyway? Is it programmed to drop off the cargo and leave? That seems stupid in case something goes wrong.

Decker says "I love you" even though there isn't any reason for it and his bond to Laura is tenuous at best, then he spins off into the planet and obviously dies. When Laura enters the ship, she's attacked by the current captain, the last remaining crew member, who amazingly finds an axe out of nowhere and swings it around with no regard for... well, any part of her environment. Because the film is being run into the ground with horrible writing, she dies. Laura is the only person left now, along with the little girl who never has a single line of dialogue and trusts strangers way too easily. Who's flying the ship now? The computer? How? What's going to happen to Laura when she gets back to Earth's space stations? Thrown in jail, most likely, and/or killed. Assuming she survives the trip back. No doubt the government didn't appreciate her little transmission.

--END OF SPOILERS--

The last 30-40 minutes were rather bad. Overall though I'd give Cargo 6.5/10. There are some enjoyable parts and I might give this another viewing.

Space is mostly a big void. Cargo, too.

[shinsrevenge · 6/10 · 20 June 2010]

The acting was surprisingly good, especially that of Samuel Decker (Martin Rapold). The graphic effects weren't bad. Cargo has a unconventional story with some interesting ideas. I didn't expect to see a snow covered section inside a space ship. The CGI Space Town was greatly praised, but I found nothing special about her.

The plot had some weak moments. The romance between Laura and Decker came totally out of nowhere and there seemed to be no reason for it. Not even based on the story. I can't say if it fitted their characters, because you don't learn much about them or their motives.

Apart from the CGIs and some good acting, the story line is mostly flat as a piece of paper. I give Cargo 6 stars, because it was a good try with some potential from Switzerland.

Alien meets Matrix meets... Event Horizon.

[storyguide-axel · 6/10 · 4 May 2013]

The year is 2267 and the ecosystem of earth has been completely destroyed, forcing the human race to live in orbit. It is a harsh life for most humans, however, there is another planet called RHEA, but only the wealthy can go there. RHEA is the paradise that everyone strives to visit. Laura Portmann (Anna Katharina Schwabroh) is no different. She also wants to move to RHEA, to live with her sister, but in order to get the money, Laura needs to make one last journey into space.

She is hired as a doctor aboard the spaceship Kassandra, an old ship that is going on a long journey to the faraway Proxima system. The ship carries materials that will allow the human race to explore and perhaps colonize foreign planets, perhaps finding a new and better home. The journey takes four years to the space station and four years to get back. It is a lonely journey, where the crew members take turn watching the ship while the rest have entered some sort of cryosleep.

After 3 years, the shift is Laura's. It is lonely to be the only waking member of the crew and every day looks much the same; she eats, trains and watch the spaceship. She is confined to a small area and is not allowed to enter the big cargo area. One night she hears something in the corridors, even sees shadows of something moving. She follows the shadows and soon finds herself down by the cargo…

Cargo is slow and intimate. Too slow for some, without a doubt, but I kinda like this sort of pace. It is a stunning visual movie with a soundscape that keeps the viewer in suspense. From the very first glance at the orbit world (a strange pipe that constantly moves around and with buildings on the inside), we know that something is wrong with the world. People look like fugitives and this is in fact precisely what they are. Fugitives from Earth. Laura Portmann is one of them. She seems to be constantly watching the world around her, never truly interacting with it. She has a camera that she uses to record her thoughts, thoughts that are being sent to her sister on RHEA. However, being aboard Kassandra forces her to take part and perhaps even alter the world of the humans.

If I had to describe this movie using other movies as points of reference, I would say that in Cargo, Alien meets Matrix. The environments are dark and gloomy, containing flickering lights and cold steel. The visual side reminds me a lot about Alien and seems believable. The outside is a different matter, though. The spaceship is a little nondescript and does not really match the inside. We don't get a lot of images from the outside, and when we do, we are seeing the ship from behind as it moves further into space. I wont explain the Matrix reference, as you may not have seen the movie. If you have seen the movie, you might know where I am going with this.

Cargo is a classic science fiction movie. It explores themes as humanity, desolation, and isolation. (edit: removed space exploration as a theme, because honestly, there isn't much of this) The movie isn't focused on new technology, but does presents new views on old ideas (like cryosleep and the classic space yetpack). I especially liked the interior of the Cargo area. It is vast, unpredictable and very dangerous. In a way, this area becomes one of the characters in the movie.

Don't watch this movie with the expectation of seeing great acting. The only complex character here is Laura, and she isn't all that complex when you give it some thought. The rest are just along for the ride and a little archetypical (but in a bad way). Watch this movie if you like to explore space and love a good science fiction horror movie in the vein of Alien and Event Horizon. Cargo is not bloody, but it does try to keep the viewer on the edge of his seat. It succeeds fairly well at that, but the ending is a little muddy. When I say muddy, what I really want to say is; the ending is a little forced and there is too much going on, too many threads to connect.

Stowaway Cargo

[EdgarST · 6/10 · 30 January 2020]

Fans of American science fiction movies usually attack or dismiss with viciousness any attempt within this genre by foreign film industries, when in fact the products are sometimes more original or daring than American formulas. However, the influence of this industry (especially from Los Angeles) has been so reinforced with adrenaline shots, given the accumulation of ships, aliens and star wars, that foreign filmmakers mimic those models. Products of recent years, such as the Russian «Attraction», the Swedish «QEDA» or this first Swiss sci-fic film, owe a lot to American cinema.

In «Cargo» the issue almost reaches the limits of plagiarism of two Ridley Scott classics: the comparison with «Alien» is inevitable, but it also has a lot of «Blade Runner» (including the name of the character Decker , not a far echo from Harrison Ford's Deckard in that one). There is also some stuff derivative of «The Matrix», in the simulation of an alternative paradise life on another planet; and the rebels on war in the «Star Wars» style.

In this story, the Earth has become uninhabitable. Humans are wandering beings; without the planet they decimated, they are entities that live in space stations; or, in the case of the wealthiest, on the planet Rhea, where everything looks like a shampoo commercial. But it is a secret that the attempt to populate it was a fiasco, discovered by a woman doctor who, to save and be able to visit her sister in Rhea, accepts an eight-year job in a cargo ship that transports a strange shipment to a supposed base and inside which a stowaway travels.

The film works well until the resemblance to «Alien» runs out (luckily, there is no alien on board), so we enter the numerical universe of «Matrix»", overloaded with explanations that slow down the action or make it incomprehensible with so much cyber talk.

A good cast helps, as also do efficient visual effects, good art direction and cinematography, but a little cutting would have been very good. I remember very bad independent movies , that I saw in my adolescence («Journey to the Seventh Planet», «The Angry Red Planet» or «Queen of Outer Space») in which things were resolved in less than 90 minutes and we all would leave the cinema hyperventilated. Some of that would have been good for this attempt at "space revolt".

Flawed

[xnrat · 5/10 · 30 May 2010]

Cargo is quite nice, especially considering it counts as an indie movie. And it is from Switzerland, a country not known for its professional movie industry.

I was trying to enjoy it and that was working really well for a while, but after about an hour the movie lost me. Especially in the second half there are too many scenes that just drag on and on. I think you could easily cut 30 minutes out and get a more gripping movie. Because, quite frankly, I was bored by Cargo. Bored to the point that I skipped through the last half hour. The fact that I know when I started skipping tells enough, because it means I got so bored I went to see how much longer the movie was going to run.

The big plot idea is pretty obvious after the big find they make. And yet the movie goes on another hour.

Also, I read this in another review, the sound is messed up. It is not only noticeable, but quite annoying. Too much on the surround speakers, not enough on the center.

I only give it 5 out of 10 for its many flaws. But go and see for yourself. Maybe you can enjoy it. It is obvious that a lot of work went into this movie and it would be a shame if people don't see it.

Low budget, but quite beautiful

[agentorangeod · 7/10 · 22 September 2014]

The entire movie is shot quite beautifully, with the expansiveness of space taking centre stage. However the acting and general script is pretty bad. The storyline is quite good, although there are one or two things that make absolutely no sense to me!

SPOILER: In terms of the storyline, this may seem obvious, but nobody else has mentioned it:

The movie is entirely in German, but all the way through the movie there seems to be Chinese symbols on the ships and there is also a Chinese object shown over the dining table a number of times. The movie is basically orientated around the illegal movement of migrants from China to the west and has a dozen hidden messages scattered throughout the storyline.

The highly populated and unpleasant space station above earth is the source of the migrants (essentially the Chinese slums). The people on the space station were told (or fooled) into thinking that things would be better on the space station (the slums) then it is on Earth (the Chinese countryside). The perfect and beautiful planet everyone wants to go to (as shown by migrants in their video messages) is called Rhea (the west).

The people on the space station work terrible jobs to get enough money to go to this paradise planet (the west). However it transpires that once the main character gets to the planet Rhea (the west), she discovers that it is a virtual simulation within a floating structure and all the people there have been fooled into believing they are living on a paradise planet. Essentially the movie is implying that the west is in fact fake and not what it seems, but the migrants living there are blinded to that fact. It also implies that the migrants are not at fault for illegal migration because they have been fooled by large corporations with the promise of a better life on Rhea (the west).

It then transpires that Earth is in fact very habitable with plenty of vegetation so the main character tells everyone on the space station (the slums) to instead go back to Earth (the countryside) and make a living there. The main character wants to bring her sister out of the simulation (the west) and back to Earth (the Chinese countryside) but her body has been degraded by living too long in the simulation (the west). Therefore the main character cuts off all communication with her by destroying the antenna (the internet) in order to prevent more people from the space station (the slums) from going to Rhea (the west). A child (a new generation) is rescued from the cargo ship and brought back to Earth (the Chinese countryside) to begin a new life that the previous generation had abandoned.

There may even be more hints at this message but I think I covered quite a bit in this. Overall I would suggest watching it.

Simply boring

[info-11400 · 3/10 · 16 January 2012]

If the budget is small, the story has to be cool, so money won't matter.

This swiss production has a very low budget but tries its very best to look good. But the story... It is slow paced, it is predictable and it is no good at all.

In a nutshell, earth is inhabitable, everyone exiles to near orbit space stations. But there is Rhea, a second most beautiful earth. Only the rich can make it there. A medical doctor signs on a cargo ship to earn herself the money to do just right that. She discovers Rhea is a fake, just some VR. By the way meets a terrorists and falls in love for him, but tragically in the end loses him.

One does not have to be that bright to guess all that after an hour into the movie. And meanwhile it is the thousands time we see dark, metal clad corridors of a rotten space ship.

The cast underacts to the extreme. I am not sure whether they simply can't do any better. And believe me, it is very hard to sympathize with anyone. It is only in the last 10 minutes emotions somewhat become visible. This is not credible at all. I must confess I think the acting and/or the direction is lousy.

And it is not a problem of the budget. They have a small story and broaden it to almost 2 hours. Boooring!

Spectacular • powerful • beautiful • terrifying

[shootingangles · 9/10 · 8 December 2010]

I'm so glad that I overlooked some of the poor responses posted about this film and rented it.

I found it absolutely riveting - and beautiful.

The first few minutes recall aspects of the BladeRunner modern cityscape - but on steroids, with the aid of modern day visual effects. The plot is interesting and unfolds nicely keeping your interest and attention. No big stars, no truly stellar performances, but the story line is solid and I was so taken in by it, that I'm going to watch it again tonight, with someone else who's not yet seen it. Some mesmerizing visuals and scenarios. The lighting is particularly strong, creating great ambiance and dramatic effect, without drawing too much attention to itself. This movie is about human frailty, various emotions and connections, about the work we do in order to follow our dreams. It also relates feelings of being small, powerless, and becoming disconnected because of technology - assessing trust in others and in the systems which dominate our lives, searching for 'truth' and authentic experiences...

A very unconventional melding of ideas which for me, worked on many different layers.

Highly worth a trip for any Sci-Fi lover.

Stylish, Yet Familiar Science Fiction Adventure

[locojoe1313 · 7/10 · 3 March 2012]

Cargo is an interesting and beautifully shot science fiction film, but not exactly a groundbreaking one. It bears similarity to several well known sci fi movies which are better known, but it manages to tell it's own story without falling into the typical clichés of the genre. Visually, the film feels epic, which fantastic cinematography and direction, and exceptional visual and sound effects; made the more impressive by the film's small budget. The story, however, feels personal and more character driven, more along the lines of Moon. The pacing is also similar and moves along slowly and methodically. The plot also has some twists and turns, nothing that will lose a casual viewer, but also will not engage or intrigue an experienced viewer. The story plays out somewhat like a murder mystery to begin with, but then delves into territory that will be familiar to those who've seen The Matrix. The performances are sufficient, but not exceptional. The real draw here is the visuals, but they are nicely backed by a competent, if not compeletely intriguing, story. Definitely worth a look if you enjoy your sci fi on the slower side, but this one may turn off some people that need more action with their space travel.

Incompetent and barely comprehensible mess

[kuarinofu · 3/10 · 6 August 2019]

Imagine a movie made by truck drivers, or soccer players, or bartenders, anyway, the point I'm trying to make is obvious.

It feels like it was directed by a random person and not a movie director. The casting is a mess, French actor is playing a Russian, clearly, a southwest Chinese woman is playing a Japanese. The main lead is incredibly dull and boring. The fact that she cannot act and the way the movie focuses so much on her face makes for some unintentionally funny moments.

The script of this movie delivered through car repairman movie directing comes as an incomprehensible mess. The first 30 minutes feel like 2 hours and by the end of the second act, you get bombarded with random information with instant plot resolution. The main "villain" was never even a villain and her motivation is beyond me.

There are many characters but only two of them have more than 2 lines. By the end, we barely even know what happened to them. This also has the weirdest forced instant love story with negative chemistry.

The dialogues are on par with the rest of the stuff in this. I should point out, however, that I don't speak German so I had to watch this movie with subtitles that weren't good.

The only good thing about this was probably set design. They had a couple of sets built and they looked alright. The ship's structure and overall design were questionable though (just because of how unsuited it was for human operation).

This film is a great illustration of how to do everything wrong. It gives you not enough information on what is going on while dragging on unnecessary scenes. It tries to be space horror essentially coming out as a rip-off of a pretty generic story even for 2009.

Don't waste time on this, and if you are a sci-fi fan, this will hurt even more.