Slingshot Review: Ambiguous Space Thriller

Slingshot makes great use of its stellar cast and promising setup to deliver an ambiguous space thriller that has the viewer guessing right up to the end.

John (Casey Affleck, Oppenheimer) is one of three astronauts aboard a mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan. As the mission prepares for a slingshot technique using Jupiter’s gravity, he, Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix), and Nash (Tomer Capone, The Boys) start losing their grips on reality as their constant drug-induced hibernations take a toll on their minds … or maybe some of their minds. Or maybe they’re just all crazy already. Yup, it’s that kind of movie, much to my pleasure.

I can’t remember having seen a film with so many different, equally plausible, headache-inducing possibilities as to what’s actually going on since The Lighthouse. You’re constantly second-guessing the mental state, honesty, and motivations of all three characters. Is just John going crazy from the hibernation? If so, does that mean Franks is wholly sane, or is he losing his mind too? Is he the only sane person on board? Are some of the crewmates’ extreme actions really happening while others are just in John’s head? Where even is John half the time? Where is everyone else? Who’s telling the truth, and who thinks they’re telling the truth? 

If your head’s spinning just reading these many questions, and if you’re the kind of oddball like me who enjoys that, then Slingshot is the film for you. Mikael Håfström previously directed 1408, a film that similarly blurs reality and has you questioning where you are. He again lets our imaginations run wild and puts us in an uncomfortable, mind-bending state through haphazard cuts, distorted angles, and a refusal to let us get a purely objective lens of anything that’s going on. It’s not like other ambiguous films where there’s a heavy lean towards one possibility but a little room for something else; every possibility is equally viable … for the most part.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like Casey Affleck’s performance for a bit, as his character seemed too constantly sad and melancholy even during supposed happy moments. But the more you see him slowly deteriorate, the more you see that these more somber inclinations of his could be the product of an already vulnerable mind that’s easily susceptible to the effects of his mission … which itself is something you come to realize he may never have been fit for in the first place, especially when you learn possibly accurate information on his family history. Even his somewhat shaky chemistry with a love interest he left behind (Emily Beecham, Cruella) works because of a layer of uncertainty the film throws at you later on.

Laurence Fishburne is great as always, and Tomer Capone brings a unique brand of unhinged energy that rounds out a very strong, constantly engaging trio of characters. Even before things go south, you understand their plight of being so far from home and constantly subjected to hibernation, which makes it sadder and scarier as their sanities all start slipping … if they’re slipping. Again, I must emphasize how much Slingshot leaves open to so many different interpretations … again, for the most part.

I keep adding that caveat because Slingshot doesn’t know exactly when or how to end. In the final ten-minute stretch, there are so many chances for it to fumble the ball with a new reveal, and each time it manages to avoid disaster … only to then put itself at risk again with another last-minute wrinkle, which it then works its way around only to again play with fire through another bit of uncertain information. At one point, I was so sure the film was about to cut to the credits that I started gathering my things to go, only for it to keep going and show us a bit more than I wanted to see. 

I don’t think Slingshot fully undercuts its ambiguous nature, but it definitely pushes how much I can cling to the notion that any interpretation is possible. It gets to a point where I don’t think anyone could call foul, and then it opens itself up to losing some of that footing. I’m not kidding when I say I would have probably bumped my rating up a half-star if the film had ended two minutes before its actual ending. But I’ll count my blessings that all I got was a slight disappointment and not a total undoing … Call it desperation if you want. Like I said, I’m starving for these kinds of movies.

I had some hope for Slingshot, but I wasn’t going to be too disappointed if it wound up failing. But instead, I got one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. Where so many other films have such juicy potential for a brain scrambler and fail to even recognize it, Slingshot milks its premise for all its worth and lets the resulting madness play out on its own terms. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to be rewarded for that, as I saw the film in a totally empty auditorium. But if you love a good space thriller or trippy, open stories in general, I highly recommend you slingshot yourself to a theater and check it out.

Slingshot was released in US theaters on August 30, 2024.