Vesper is a lovely little fungal science fiction film with confidence, sensitivity, and intelligence. I appreciate its ability to just let your live in its mycelia dreamscape/nightmare without over-explanation or over-exposition.

There is a text crawl at the start of the movie tells us the world faced collapse until biohacks were introduced that ultimately went out of control. The biosphere collapsed and was replaced by a new type of life. In this world, Vesper is a lonely teen girl and natural scientist who keeps one step ahead of her untrustworthy neighbors… until one day an airship with people from the isolationist beacons of what remains of civilization crashes nearby.

Raffiella Chapman plays the lead Vesper and she’s an appealing young talent with bright young Winona Ryder vibes to her. She carries much of the movie just as much as the well thought out visual effects of this alien landscape. She plays smart, tough, and vulnerable and she connects well with her fellow actors.

There’s not an overly complicated story here but there’s enough character development and exploration to make me like these characters. To hope they manage to either scrounge out a better life or find a way to join the shiny sci-fi city just over the horizon.

The pacing and action may not be to everyone’s tastes, but the film worked for me. I was engaged at all of its lovely and ugly little ideas. I dug the film’s dedication to its sci-fi premise. This was a good time for me. I just wish it had bigger, more epic, or more sublime ideas for its finale… if this had just found a more surreal or mind-expanding ending, it could have really been outstanding.

But that makes it merely a great little sci-fi drama with some good acting and great world-building. It trusts the audience is smart and can handle ambiguity (most of the time) and I always appreciate that. This is a unique and special little film with big ideas.

Score: 88