Indie. Drama. Sci-Fi. Western. Thriller. Any combination of these genres would instantly earn my attention. With four characters and one desolate setting, Settlers tells a story that in one form or another embodies all of these genres. Those four characters are Ilsa (Sofia Boutella, The Mummy (2017), Kingsman: The Secret Service), Reza (Jonny Lee Miller), their daughter Remmy, and the instigator of conflict at hand, Jerry (Ismael Cruz Cordova). The events that ensue tests everyone’s need for safety, survival, and hope in a mysterious world, allowing for a small-scale story to unearth dramatic circumstances.

Although Settlers is broken up into three chapters -  each named after three of the four main human characters for reasons that become clear by the third act - the story covers two climatic periods in Remmy’s life: the first when she is a young girl and the second when she is coming of age. As a child, the property that she and her parents have taken refuge in is a self-contained desert sanctuary; a haven away from danger - that is, until danger besieges them. Remmy is then thrown into a new normal, and finding freedom means upsetting an established order and journeying into unknown territory that may or may not have what she is looking for.

Finding sanctuary in a hostile environment can be unnerving. Perhaps that’s why even the most tranquil moments in Settlers feel tense. Trust is not easy to lend, and much of the drama in this film hinges on how little this family can trust this intruder while having no choice but to cooperate with him. It’s a clever angle for writer and director Wyatt Rockefeller to come at this story with - making the dwelling of these settlers feel wholly “unsettling”.

His storytelling style is interesting, though. Rockefeller often avoids showing-and-telling details, opting instead for a more imply-and-deduce method of revealing information. For example, Rockefeller doesn’t open the film with an establishing shot of Mars paired with a location headline; he indicates which planet they’re not on with young Remmy reciting constellations and planets in the night sky until she identifies Earth as one of them. He doesn’t expound on exactly how remote this self-contained fortress is; he let’s Jerry tell Ilza, “you can leave if you want...I’m pretty sure you know what’s waiting for you out there,” with alluring ambiguity. It’s the art of allusion that Rockefeller seems eager to employ - clues and hints to indicate what the characters already know that the audience may not.

The problem is that too much allusion can leave much to be desired in the minds of the audience, and by the end, the world Rockefeller has constructed can still feel incomplete; like a puzzle missing a few pieces. We get the picture, but satisfaction is missing. Even though the intent seems fixated on keeping the scope of the story small, the desire for more comprehensive worldbuilding might leave an itch unscratched for some audiences. Thus, the screenplay heavily relies on these viewers maintaining a high capacity for suspension of disbelief - or more accurately, a high tolerance for belief in the parameters that the story loosely establishes. For others though, this open endedness might serve as an opportunity to expand one’s own imagination and draw their own conclusions.

After all, the evidence of a rich sci-fi epic is present: an inherent hostility towards Earthlings; a war that raged and petered out; an entire civilization that has allegedly vanished. These details sprinkled throughout the Settlers narrative act as an invisible yet ornate frame for the two portions of Remmy’s life that the story covers. Within the 103 minute runtime, Settlers might not be perfect storytelling, but Rockefeller’s first foray into feature length narrative filmmaking delivers on many respectable fronts. There are layers to this presentation, and Rockefeller only chooses to peel back some of them for audiences. We then get to imagine how the rest of the world looks and how the rest of the story should play, and settle on that.

Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 2 | What does this mean?

CAST & CREDITS

Directed by Wyatt Rockefeller

Wyatt Rockefeller is a London-based filmmaker. He received a dual MBA-MFA in film at NYU and has written, directed, and produced numerous short films, commercials, and documentaries. Settlers, his first feature, is among the NYU Production Lab's slate of supported projects.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Ben Pugh

CO-PRODUCER

Kenny Moleme, Jason Mandl

COMPOSER

Nitin Sawhney

US DISTRIBUTOR

IFC Midnight

CAST

Sofia Boutella, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Brooklynn Prince, Nell Tiger Free, Jonny Lee Miller

DIRECTOR

Wyatt Rockefeller

PRODUCER

Julie Fabrizio, Joshua Horsfield, Johan Kruger

SCREENWRITER

Wyatt Rockefeller

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Willie Nel

EDITOR

Johnny Daukes