What is the scariest place? Maybe an abandoned asylum, or amusement park? How about an old church or dark forest? Perhaps the most terrifying place is not on this planet, but rather the infinite solitude of outer space. Imagine floating around in deep space, alone in the void, light years away from contact. A lonely space ship is the only thing keeping you away from the treacherous nothingness outside. This is the setting for Javier Chillon’s chilling short film They Will All Die In Space
The film takes place on a drifting starship, Tantalus. Two men, played by Francesc Garrido and Ben Temple, alone on the ship decide to awake a technician, played by Julio Perillán, from a cryogenic sleep to help fix the vessel before their supply of food and water run dry. Anything else would be giving too much away. The story is presented with tension and unease, as the two men clearly have something to hide.
The most incredible aspect about They Will All Die in Space are the sets. All practical, Idoia Estaban led a three week crusade to build all of the futuristic yet rustic space sets from scratch. They also built miniatures, on which actors were superimposed onto to make the vastness of space look more real. This kind of dedication in indie film making can’t go unnoticed. The sets look great, especially in the black and white presentation. Even though it clearly takes place in the future, it feels somehow nostalgic, as though we’re looking to the past. We could have been watching an old episode of The Twilight Zone, the only thing missing was Rod Serling appearing on screen to set up the scene.
Overall They Will All Die In Space is a phenomenal way to spend 14 minutes. The story is fantastic and each shot is beautiful. Although we cannot share the film with you just yet, we do have a small collection of stills for you to gawk at.
