Vesper (2022): A Reflection

Sometimes you stumble on something and yearn for more, despite the flaws. This was my response to watching a low-budget science fiction film Vesper or Vesper Chronicles (for our French Audiences).

Spoilers and slightly unsavory topics going forward, heed caution.

I was doom-scrolling through Netflix after searching for something to watch late last night. Bored and wanting to watch something new, I came across the topic of this article, Vesper.

Vesper is a European 2022 science fiction film directed by Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper. They also wrote the script along with Brian Clark. It took six years for the film to hit the big screen.

What initially caught my attention was the trailer. The art and tone of the trailer were so similar to the concept artwork of Simon Stålenhag that I was baffled when I found out otherwise. I’m also glad I’m not the only one who talked about the similarity, as others noted the same. It would be nice if the writers and/or directors spoke about the influences of the film.

The short of the plot line is that Vesper, the character to whom the movie is named, is a 13-year-old girl who attempts to survive the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem and society. She lives and travels with her father, paralyzed but able to speak through a hovering mech. Using her intelligence and a strange woman, she tries to biohack for the future.

I loved this movie. It feeds a blend of Vandermeer, Stalenhag, and Scavenger’s Reign. There’s a fungus that devours people, along with several other alien-like plants that have a taste for flesh. It’s bright and colorful! There’s a whimsical but dreary feel to the film that covers more sinister notes.

Vesper (played by Raffiella Chapman) is a young girl who is gifted in the odd science of the film. She struggles with the want to advance in her work and care for her paralyzed father. She wants to go to the Citadel, the current ruling government.

Her father (played by Richard Brake), on the other hand, is bitter and worried about her safety. He was a soldier who fought for the Citadel and was injured, leaving him paralyzed. They gave him the floating droid that allows him to travel with Vesper and speak. He often tries to dissuade his daughter’s ambitions out of parental worry, with a hint of “Don’t leave me as your mother did”.

We learn that Vesper’s mother left them to join a mysterious group called the Pilgrims. We don’t get a lot of backstories on the Pilgrims. Not only that, but we only get oddly dressed women who remind me of something from Elden Ring and that they go around collecting scrap metal that they use to build structures. Big structures.

At some point in the film, we meet Vesper’s uncle Jonas. I love Eddie Marsan’s portrayal of Jonas. He gives the gross “where’s my hug?” uncle vibe with a mild touch of Immortan Joe from Mad Max.

We get our first taste of Jonas when Vesper visits his definitely-not-a-cult “orphanage” compound to get medical supplies for her father. Vesper walks into the compound to see a group of children huddled watching something agonizing in pain. While walking forward, we get a glimpse of a severely deformed person who had been impaled by a pipe during a construction accident.

Jonas scolds the boy meant to be watching the injured person. Reprimands that he was in charge of the “thing”. We learn that they refer to the injured individual as a “Jug”, a genetically cloned individual meant for the sole purpose of slave labor. They are viewed as cattle and disposable. Jonas hands a knife to the child and tells him to “put the thing out of its misery”. The task is done brutally after an initial hesitation, showing how little is cared about their sentience.

We also learn that Jonas takes blood from the kids and sells it to the compound. He also gets a weird chin-lip touch to Vesper, and there’s a comment about joining his “breeder” program. Gross, bad touch, uncle. He takes her blood and tells her she’ll get her supplies once it’s sold.

Uncle of the year.

There’s an argument and Vesper is thrown out by him. This leads us to another interesting plot point: the Citadel hands out seeds that require special growth processes. Her uncle has some, so she breaks in to steal it.

Then we meet our next character, Camellia (played by Rosy McEwen). A mysterious blonde woman who crashes lands in the area with another Citadel person. Camellia exhibits magic-like abilities. She mourns when Vesper tells her the man, Elias, she was looking for is dead, killed by Jonas. We find out Camellia is an advanced Jug.

It’s illegal to give a Jug sentience, giving Blade Runner vibes. That is why the pair left the Citadel, as they were wanted criminals. Jonas, being a dick, calls the Citadel, which leads to the end of the story.

Camellia aids Vesper in unlocking the seeds’ secrets, as her DNA plays a pivotal role. I’ve read many sources that call this “biohacking” and I’m all for it. Biopunk has always been one of my favorite subgenres of science fiction.

Vesper loses her father, and eventually Jonas, to Citadel soldiers. I like the soldier designs. They look like something out of Warhammer and Game of Thrones. There’s an odd Hunger-game costume choice in the film that I enjoyed. You can tell who is from the Citadel and who isn’t.

Camellia, whom Vesper grows heavily attached to, is eventually lost as well as she turns herself into the Citadel’s soldiers.

Vesper is left alone with her seeds and buries a few before beginning a journey, picking up a few orphans on the way. Climbing a large Pilgrim structure, she lets the seeds go to the wind, mirroring the ending of Girl With All The Gifts. Hope and love are crucial thematic traits that are woven into the plot, especially with this ending. It leaves an ambiguous but optimistic note in the air.

I loved everything in the plot, but it’s a little disappointing. There are a lot of great concepts, but one film isn’t enough to properly explain it all. I know that sometimes it happens with science fiction films. Not everything needs to be explained. There just seems to be a disservice done to world building.

Had this been a TV series that could expand throughout multiple episodes, then I think that would have done better. We could receive more information on the Citadels or the tense relationship between Jonas and Darius. What happens after Vesper spreads the seeds? Why are the Pilgrims building large structures? Is it for the fungus? Aliens? Why are the ships bio-organic?

I just need to know!

I do have to give this film credit. For a 5 million dollar budget, it’s not a terrible film. The effects are nice, and the acting is pretty decent. Raffiella Chapman is a compelling young actress and gives a stubbornness to Vesper that is endearing. The world is imaginative but needs a little more. I would love to see more done.

Granted, I’m not sure if there will be more added to this world as this was not a box office hit, barely scraping by with an earning of 1.5 million. The ratings were far more fair than what I was expecting, ranging from 6/10 to 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. We might see more now that I think about it.

I do hope so.

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