Movie Review: ‘Slingshot’

Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Tomer Capone and Emily Beecham feature in the psychological thriller that doesn’t soar the way it might.

(L to R) Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

Opening in theaters on August 30th, ‘Slingshot’ is the latest contender in the already overstuffed genre of science-fiction psycho-thrillers. Largely a three-hander between Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and ‘The Boys’ Tomer Capone, it looks to mess with your head almost as much as it does its protagonist’s.

Yet while it certainly builds atmosphere, the feeling here is very much that it’s following in the footsteps of other, better movies.

Does ‘Slingshot’ get up to speed?

In space, the old saying goes, no-one can hear you scream. Yet you may find yourself screaming with frustration at ‘Slingshot’, which takes some bold swings in the psycho-thriller genre but ultimately comes up short when compared with classics such as ‘2001’ (admittedly, the new movie doesn’t have quite as such lofty themes on its mind) and is more likely to end up annoying than fascinating.

A slow-burn start is fairly standard for this sort of movie, dropping hints about the main character’s mental state and background, and filling you in on the backstory before putting the actual mystery into play.

‘Slingshot’: Script and Direction

(L to R) Laurence Fishburne, Casey Affleck, and Tomer Capone in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

The script for this new movie comes from an interesting duo –– R. Scott Adams (who gets the “written by” credit) has just one other film to his name, 2011 horror ‘Donner Pass’. Nathan Parker, meanwhile (“screenplay by”) has a more expansive resume, including ‘Equals’, TV’s ‘The Underground Railroad’ and perhaps more germane to a space thriller, ‘Moon’.

But even with plenty of experience, ‘Slingshot’ ultimately comes across as reheated leftovers from other movies –– though it flirts with chewing over big themes such as isolation, the chain of command, paranoia and long-distance relationships –– it doesn’t really do all that much of interest with any of them.

Neither does it give the cast a lot of interesting beats to play; each moment feeling a little stale and familiar as the situation starts to ratchet up the stress levels for their characters.

Director Mikael Håfström, meanwhile, also has some solid work in his past; thrillers such as ‘The Rite’, ‘1408’, ‘Outside the Wire’ and ‘Vendetta’ to name just a few. Here, though, while he certainly manages to evoke some paranoia, a lot of what is presented is less than thrilling, from the normal concerns of humans suffering hibernation sickness and the talk of past problems between commanders and officers.

‘Slingshot’: Performances

There are three main performances anchoring this one, though a fourth plays almost as important a part. The cast certainly gives their all, but the characters aren’t always worth the effort.

Casey Affleck as John

Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

Our focal point for the story is Affleck’s astronaut, and he brings his typical low-key energy to the role. John is a conflicted man, missing the woman he loves even though he’s finally on his lifelong dream to be on a space mission. As the situation and dynamics between the three main crewmembers begins to change, he’s the one person we follow through it all.

Affleck is sometimes on autopilot here, going through the motions, and if you key into his particular weary charisma, the movie may work better for you.

Laurence as Captain Franks

(L to R) Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

Like Affleck, you pretty much know what you’re getting when you hire Fishburne, though he obviously has a much longer cinematic history and has put in some truly great performances. Here, he’s not asked to do too much more than bring his usual charisma to a slightly underwritten, cliched role, the positive commander who is hiding something.

There’s plenty to enjoy in his work here still.

Toper Capone as Nash

Tomer Capone in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

Capone, who is probably best known for his role as Frenchie on Prime Video’s ‘The Boys’, has the chance to be something more surprising since he’s not quite the well-established performer like his co-stars.

As Nash, he’s the nervier crew member, convinced that something is going badly wrong with the spaceship and is concerned that they shouldn’t attempt the titular “slingshot” maneuver that will see them using Jupiter’s gravity to speed them on their way to Titan, the moon of Saturn.

Emily Beecham as Zoe

(L to R) Emily Beecham and Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

The fourth key member of the cast, Beecham plays the lead of the engineering team that designed the Odyssey-1 ship at the heart of the story. Her tentative, yet passionate relationship with John is also part of the movie’s emotional core, told partly in flashback. She’s perfectly fine in the role, though it mostly subjugates her to being the distant girlfriend.

Supporting cast

There are one or two other people who make noticeable impact in the movie –– David Morrissey is the head of the program, who is seen in flashback and also is in contact with the trio via video screens (albeit on delay given the great distance involved). He’s solid in the role, which again is mostly a supporting part.

Finally, worth mentioning is Nikolett Barabas as the disembodied voice of the ship’s computer, a vocal performance that carries more weight as the film moves on. She adds some gravitas to what is effectively a computerized voice initially making basic announcements.

‘Slingshot’: Final Thoughts

Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street's 'Slingshot'. Credit: Bleecker Street.

Looking to play with perceptions and keep you guessing as to what’s really going on can be tricky, and ‘Slingshot’ –– no spoilers here –– doesn’t always pull off the trick as successfully as it thinks.

Still, it has enough tense energy to keep it moving until the final act descends into predictable chaos.

‘Slingshot’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.