One of the four entries for Best T&T Feature Film in next month’s annual Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival is TOMB, which is groundbreaking for its genre alone – a Caribbean science fiction thiller.
It is a wonderful sign for the Trinidad and Tobago film industry (the country where your beloved blogger is from) and for the Caribbean as a whole that we are seeing filmmakers branching out beyond straight up drama, action or comedy. And as a huge sci fi geek this is very exciting for me.
The film is the brainchild of Trinidad born writer/producer/director Nick Attin and it is his third feature after action crime thriller Escape from Babylon (2013) and fantasy thriller Little Boy Blue (2011). His latest effort TOMB is set in 2025 and tells the story of Trinidad and Tobago joining other nations around the world for the largest expedition into the furthest regions of deep space in a mission “to discover a new way of life for all mankind”.
In two A.I.-assisted probes are two astronauts representing T&T- Commander Nelson Obatala (played by Kearn Samuel who Attin previously teamed with on Escape from Babylon) and Commander Charles Mercer (Gregory Pollonais). When Mercer’s probe mysteriously alters course it is up to Obatala to rescue his countryman and discover the secrets beyond the wormhole. The film, shot entirely in the country, also stars Conrad Parris, Jair Massiah, Rebecca Foster, Chris Smith and Amanda McIntyre.
The trailer (see link below) does a commendable job of creating an air of mystery and discovery. We see the initial planning of the launch, the vessels in the vastness of space and the astronauts encountering problems. We get the emotional drama with a video message from Obatala’s family, and a scene of Obatala encountering an ethereal-looking man played by Parris.
With the trailer I am getting some flavours of Contact, Interstellar and 2001: A Space Odyssey but I will have to see the film to learn where they take the narrative. The special effects are not Hollywood caliber but this is not a Hollywood big budget film so I am a bit forgiving. And it is the performances and plot that will determine whether TOMB crashes and burns or soars to heights unknown. You can catch TOMB at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival from September 20-27.
So what do you think of the trailer? Feel free to comment below.
For more from Trinidad and Tobago films you can check out my review of Smallman here and for more Caribbean flavour you can check out my review of Captureland from Jamaica here. And for more Caribbean trailer first looks you can check out redmangoreviews as we post Monday to Saturday or follow me on Twitter @suprememango012suprememango012 for updates.
Julien is outie like a navel. l8rs
NB – All photos courtesy of A Runaway Colony Production Co. Ltd.