“IT IS NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
SLINGSHOT is a gripping psychological thriller. The story demonstrates people’s need for each other. This can be illustrated by Genesis 2:18, which says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” The movie also asks if scientific progress is more important than human life. Ultimately, the movie affirms the sanctity of life. Sadly, however, SLINGSHOT is marred by some strong foul language including 12 “f” words and two strong profanities. The movie also features intense violence. Some of that violence is unnecessarily bloody. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.
CONTENT:
Strong moral, pro-life worldview in a story about the effects of isolation on people reinforces the fact that people need each other and illustrates Genesis 2:18, which says, “It is not good for man to be alone,” and the worldview affirms the idea that human life is more important than scientific progress, plus there’s a slight environmentalist teaching where people try to travel to one of Saturn’s moons to harvest resources that will create renewable energy sources back on Earth;
About 22 obscenities (including 12 “f” word, one Jesus profanity, one GD profanity, and three light profanities;
Very strong violence toward the end as the captain tries attempts to force the other crewmates to follow his orders through violent scenes, the characters fight back, which results in bloody brawls;
Implied fornication where main character starts a relationship with a female colleague;
Two instances of upper male nudity when the main character is in the shower;
Light alcohol use with characters drinking in social settings;
No smoking or illicit drugs, but astronauts need to use drugs to help them hibernate in space, but the drugs have hallucinating effects, and the story deals partly with the confusion between reality and fantasy caused by those drugs; and,
Light miscellaneous immorality with the ship captain intimidating and threatening the crew to make them follow his orders.
MORE DETAIL:
SLINGSHOT is a compelling science fiction thriller that examines the impact of isolation on the human psyche. SLINGSHOT offers intense drama and leaves the audience unsure of what is real and what is fake, suffering the same fate as the main character who becomes confused about reality. The story is well executed, but strong foul language and intense bloody violence mars the movie.
John awakens as an astronaut aboard the Odyssey-1, a spacecraft traveling to one of Saturn’s moons, Titan, to retrieve and transport precious materials back to Earth. Though the journey will take multiple years, the crew is put into 90-day periods of hibernation, only waking to check the ship’s vital systems and course correct if needed. Another part of the protocol when they are awake is to complete a psych evaluation because the drugs used to place them in hibernation are known to have the potential to cause mental distress.
The first time John and the crew wake up in the movie, they’re nine months into the mission and their vital checks go smoothly. The next time John wakes up, however, the ship is in distress. An an unknown force has caused a dent in the ship’s hull, which disrupts their communication with Earth but leaves the ship capable of continuing the mission. Though there’s no reason to abort the mission, one of the crew members, Nash, wants to call off the mission. The captain, Steve, however, asserts that they will maintain their course. John remains neutral in the decision, happy to continue the mission, but willing to call it off if the ship shows further signs of damage.
Meanwhile, John is more focused on slight hallucinations that he’s experiencing. For example, he hears the voice of his girlfriend back home, Zoe, calling his name. He also recalls the beginning of their relationship and how they got together.
The next time they wake up, the crew has to execute a gravity-assisted boost from Jupiter to hurtle themselves toward Titan. While John and Steve are still on board to continue the mission, Nash tries to convince them to gravity assist back toward Earth so they can return home. Against Nash’s wishes, they orient themselves towards Titan and continue with the mission.
Still hoping to turn back, Nash fabricates data to appear as though the ship is not mission-fit, but the captain, Steve, catches him in the lie. He forces Nash and John back into hibernation so he can have time to himself to think. As John enters hibernation, he watches Steve violently attack Nash with a gun and bash him over the head multiple times as blood splatters everywhere.
When John awakens from his hibernation, his hallucinations are worse than ever as he begins to see Zoe along with hearing her voice. John, however, is more focused on the brutal scene he experienced as he was entering hibernation. He begins asking Steve if he can see Nash. Steve claims he didn’t kill Nash, just subdued him and placed him in hibernation. However, he refuses to allow John to see him. Instead, Steve tells him to work on his normal waking duties.
While performing his normal tests, John hallucinates talking with Earth. Steve finds him doing this and takes him back to his hibernation chamber at gunpoint so he can put him to sleep until they reach Titan. John pretends to go along with it but resists at the last second and fights Steve for control of the gun. Now having the upper hand, John strikes and brutally beats Steve to keep himself free.
John then searches the ship for Nash but is unable to find him. Steve is able to compose himself. He and John have another struggle, which John wins again, this time beating him even more brutally, bringing him close to death. John then begins to hear Zoe over the ship’s interior radio telling John that it was only ever him on the ship and Steve and Nash were figments of his imagination. In fact, John never left Earth but was taking part in an experiment to see the effect of long-term space travel on the human psyche.
Will John accept what Zoe is telling him? Or, is she just an illusion?
SLINGSHOT is an excellent psychological thriller. It leaves the viewer experiencing the same psychological questions as John. The final twenty minutes are particularly powerful as the audience is left just as confused as John as to what’s real and what’s fake. It truly feels like the reality where Zoe is right or where Steve is right are equally as possible until the final answer is revealed.
SLINGSHOT has a strong moral, pro-life worldview. It demonstrates people’s need for each other. As such, it illustrates the lesson in Genesis 2:18, which says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Furthermore, the movie asks whether scientific progress is more valuable than human life. Ultimately, it affirms the value of human life above all else. Sadly, however, SLINGSHOT features some strong foul language, including 12 “f” words and two strong profanities. The movie also features intense violence. Some of that violence is unnecessarily bloody. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.