Review: Galaxy Games

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Galaxy Games (aka Sol Invictus)
Directed by Ben Carland
High Octane Pictures; Event Horizon Entertainment
84 minutes, 2022
https://pixelpictures.net/sol

Wisely changing the name of the film from Sol Invictus (meaning The Sole Undefeated), the new title is supposed, I assuming, bring up tingles of the popular and profitable The Hunger Games franchise, as well as hinting at Squid Game (2021). Actually, it was a smart marketing decision.

For this sci-fi drama, groups of rival Academy students (I’m not sure if they are meant to be high schoolers or college level, but the cast is definitely older than the range in the story) are sent off to another planet to participate in the Sol Invictus. The plan is to succeed in science and personal growth, and in Hunger Games fashion, only the winning team gets to go back to Earth.

Of course, pretty soon, things go off the rail, as the rival groups are stranded on that planet. Right off the bat, I am wondering if this situation is accidental, or part of it all, like in Stephen King’s 1979 novel, The Long Walk. Part of their problem is that not everyone shows up due to a malfunction, and worse than that, most of the supplies are somewhere in limbo as well… including a large portion of the food.

One of the team captains assumes totalitarian style methods to still try and accomplish the goals of the game (“I still have a competition to win”), so they can get home. Considering all that is going on, will Earth even miss them? The whole point of the story is to get them stranded because the masters of the Games do not like “mediocrity.”

The landscape of the planet confuses me a bit as it looks a lot like Earth. The heavily testosterone-laden group (no women in the Academies back on Earth? Damn that Supreme Court) arrive on a desert plain, with an ocean just over the hill, yet they can be seen running through a forest.

Of course, they are not alone, as you can tell with the film’s poster art. There are creatures on the planet, known as Hunters, that look like a cross between a beetle and an arachnid (among other insecty things like worm-snakes), signaling a Starship Troopers (1998), though budget constraints limit the number of CGI beasties. I should note that even though the budget is low, they look decent for what it is.

Perhaps a good question for the makers of the film would be, to whom exactly is this being marketed? All the male actors look like they just stepped out of a 1990’s boy band, so perhaps teenage girls? The sci-fi action may bring in some teen boys, but this is definitely not aimed at the adult market, unless perhaps one is into cosplay mentality (not meant derogatorily at all). Mind you, this is a level above, say, The Power Rangers (no full body monster costumes, for example), but it is also hardly sophisticated enough to be a generalized attraction for a wide demographic.

It is, however, relatively high energy, with the angst of Dorothy wanting to go home, but with handheld shaky cameras in the action scenes to emphasize the drive of the events onscreen.

Like Robert Heinlein’s 1959 Starship Troopers novel more than the film version, this is a treatise of how the government has become authoritarian and militaristic mindset has settled into a norm. It actually is interesting to see this film in a time when one political party in the US is using militaristic methods to grab control the populace, though no mention of religion is present here.

I can guarantee I will not be the first to say this, but there is definitely a Lord of the Flies (1963, 1990) vibe to the toxic macho masculinity of who gets to run the shebang, with kindness or cruelty, depending on the one grabbing the ranks at any time. This changes a number of times throughout, as some people disappear for various reasons, or others pop in from the Games.

This is not as savage as Flies, however, in that despite some deaths, from creatures or of human origin, there is cooperation and bonding mixed in with the duplicity of loyalties (i.e., to self vs. the Social Contract). It occasionally feels like The Martian (2015) idea, as the survivors adapt to their environment.

The cast is actually well seasoned with many credits to their names in most cases, so the acting is on line for the story. Tyl (Jake White) is obviously the lead from the start, and does well in the role. My favorite character, though, was Howard (Tyler Thomas), as the quirky guy. Then there is the bully of the batch, Lex (Sky King), who takes an action I do not believe as it is against his very character…but I will forgive it for the “Kumbaya” moment

For what it is, a film geared to the teenage mind, with no cursing, no nudity, very little blood (though one gross scene of infection), it was relatively sci-fi with some social commentary, where is just where sci-fi should be: there is an old axiom that states that films about the future are actually about the present. In this political climate, I can see that.

IMDB listing HERE