Science fiction motion pictures, particularly time journey motion pictures, have lengthy been a technique to discover an unsure future. Possibly the attitude focuses on the vagaries of romantic relationships, like in The Time Traveler’s Spouse, or possibly there’s an try and undo errors and create a greater future, like in Looper. Both approach, the concept of somebody coming from the long run to work together with bizarre folks stays tantalizing.
A mainstay of the style is that the tales are normally instructed from the attitude of the oblivious folks within the current who’ve their lives upended by a customer. Nevertheless, this 2021 film does the other, throwing the time traveler’s life into chaos to driving (and amusing) impact.
Captain Nova seems like a Walmart bargain-bin knockoff of Captain Marvel, however there aren’t any traces of the MCU right here. This Dutch film got here to Netflix with no fanfare, however beneath its unassuming advertising is a gripping story about guilt, journey, and the local weather disaster.
The film opens on a 37-year-old astronaut named Nova, who embarks on an formidable venture to journey again by means of a wormhole from her current of 2050 to 2025. Whereas she makes it by means of with the assistance of her trusty robotic companion, ADD, she discovers a side-effect of time journey: She’s now 12 once more, the identical age she was in 2025.
Nonetheless, Nova has a mission to finish. She’s armed with an revolutionary gadget — a weapon that slows an individual’s notion of time, forcing them into slow-motion, and he or she finds an ally in a 15-year-old named Nas. Collectively, they disguise from the authorities as they pursue Nova’s secret aim: Confronting an power govt on the point of drilling into the North Pole to capitalize on the pure sources, an act that dooms the world’s local weather.
In the meantime, the authorities are attempting to trace down the pilot of the unusual UFO that landed within the woods. They discover fingerprints within the ship, however they’re of various sizes. They observe the smaller prints to 12-year-old Nova Kester… who’s obsessive about area however has no thought what’s in her future.
This will likely sound a bit like Netflix’s different current time-travel launch, The Adam Venture, however right here the 2 Novas by no means truly work together. As an alternative, the charismatic dynamic between Nova and Nas is the driving power. Nas’ try and kiss Nova is rejected as a result of, hilariously, she’s far too outdated for him.
Captain Nova is a local weather change film, however not like, say, Don’t Look Up, it by no means approaches the subject with smug preachiness. As an alternative, you notice the significance of those two youngsters taking up the company world by contemplating the context of our world, the place younger individuals are main the combat in opposition to local weather change. They’re extra than simply passionate youngsters — they’re future adults whose lives depend upon selections made now. Nova offers each the attitude of an grownup who’s seen the awful future, and a toddler who’s filled with optimism for what’s to come back.
Like most time journey motion pictures, the actions Nova takes prior to now have an effect on the long run as soon as she returns, however by no means in the best way she intends. Simply while you assume the film’s over, Nova is pressured to return to the previous one final time. The result’s charming, humorous, poignant, and value your time.
Captain Nova is now streaming on Netflix.