Voyagers

Movie review by Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media
Voyagers Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

Formulaic, soapy teen space drama has lust, sex, violence.

PG-13 2021 108 minutes
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Parents say

age 16+

Based on 1 review

Kids say

age 14+

Based on 3 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Voyagers is a sci-fi thriller about a group of 30 children-turned-teens who are on a one-way space mission to find a potentially habitable planet for humans to colonize. The movie, which has been compared to everything from Lord of the Flies to The 100, stars Colin Farrell as the one adult aboard the spaceship; the rest of the starring cast is young-adult actors like Tye Sheridan, Fionn Whitehead, and Lily-Rose Depp. There's a fair bit of non-graphic sex and romance involved, as well as violence after the teens stop taking hormone-suppressing, mood-stabilizing drugs disguised as vitamin supplements. Some scenes get quite dark, with moments ranging from a woman's body being groped to the disturbing deaths of at least four young people at others' hands. Language is very mild ("shut up," "liar," "shut your fat face"), and there's no iffy substance use. While the supporting cast is diverse, the main characters are White, and a young Black woman who's the only voice of reason is repeatedly told to shut up. Families with teens can discuss the concept of nature vs. nurture, as well as the movie's messages about the importance of impulse control, collaboration, and honesty.

Community Reviews

Ugzilla
Ugzilla Adult
August 13, 2021
age 16+

Lord of the Flies is much better, spend your time reading that instead - meh, movie is a solid meh

The movie poster with two naked people made me expect a graphic and inappropriate movie. It's not nearly that bad, although it is for mature teenage audiences. The trailer is more intense and suggestive than the movie, for the most part, in case you watched that. Overall, not a very good show. Not very fun nor scary for adults, and too slow and mature for smaller kids. I'd estimate the average 15-17 yr old may like this movie, but then again… maybe not, it's not a great show. Lots of violence, and instinctive, base behavior. A few suggestive scenes, as mentioned in the CSMedia review, but nothing nearly as provocative as the naked bodies on the movie poster. There's definitely suggestive undertones of sexual tension, harassment, and almost borderline sexual assault. Definitely violence and evil intentions manifest early and continue throughout. SPOILER ALERT - possible spoilers below, depending on how sensitive you are (and if you've never read Lord of the Flies, pity on you, go read it first, it's much better than this drivel) Some details for concerned parents. About 51 minutes into the movie, a boy and a girl are shown fully clothed, embracing, panting heavily in a suggestive way. In another scene, approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes into the movie, there is a low-detail love scene. A boy and a girl are laying in bed together, fully clothed. Kissing, then it blacks out. Let's be clear - they're just holding hands next to each other in a sci-fi space bed, and they're kissing like teenagers kiss. Not too crazy, even in the view of this protective parent. Then it shows blurry images of skin. Armpits, maybe a leg/knee combo, maybe a thigh, probably the small of a woman's back, it's hard to tell what they're showing since it's so blurry and "artistic." Can't even really tell if I'm seeing a close-up of someone's thumb squeezed against his hand. Nothing overly graphic is shown, and it's extremely blurry. They seem to be clothed the entire time, but again it's so, so blurry. Then the scene shows them waking up together, boy in shorts and girl in sports bra and tighter shorts, laying in bed together. So it's implied, but very little is shown. Later, a dead body is shown, eyes open, face covered in blood. Not too realistic, so I guess it counts as PG-13, but it's more graphic than some early teenagers are used to.

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

VOYAGERS is writer-director Neil Burger's sci-fi space opera about a near future in which Earth has become increasingly uninhabitable. The world's scientists find a possible solution: a planet that could be habitable by humans. It will take 86 years -- three generations -- to arrive there, so a group of specifically bred babies is brought up indoors to make up the crew of 30 students who will begin the mission. Scientist Richard (Colin Farrell) offers to accompany the children, who are 8 when they take off. Ten years later, Christopher (Tye Sheridan), one of the brilliant now-18-year-olds, discovers that a daily "vitamin supplement" they've all been ingesting is actually a hormone suppressant and mood stabilizer. Christopher and his best friend, Zac (Fionn Whitehead), decide to stop taking the daily supplement and have a nearly instantaneous awakening to feelings of lust, jealousy, competition, and aggression. The sudden influx of hormones coupled with a tragedy creates a toxic, divisive environment for the newly "liberated" teens onboard.

Is It Any Good?

Neil Burger's sci-fi thriller would have been a better series than this slick but underwhelming (and predictable) teen flick. Like Lord of the Flies meets The 100 in space, Voyagers' plot starts off promisingly, even though audiences will have questions after it's revealed that the children were initially expected to be on the ship by themselves, without an adult present. From there, viewers may wonder how the brightest minds in the world ever thought that filling a ship with unsupervised tweens and teens would lead to anything but mayhem. Plot roadblocks aside, however, Sheridan does a good job as an older teen who starts to question what mission control -- and, by extension, Richard -- has told them all about the drug that's being forced upon them. Farrell does his best to be a father figure and leader, but never underestimate the power of the teen libido, Burger seems to say. What's slightly laughable is that on a ship full of attractive, diverse young people, both Christopher and Zac (who are both White) must of course fall for the same White girl -- in this case, medical officer Sela (Lily-Rose Depp, who doesn't demonstrate much acting range in the role).

The only prescient voice of reason is Phoebe (Chanté Adams), a Black mission specialist who's repeatedly told to shut up (and, ludicrously, is called fat because she's 10 pounds heavier than all of the other supermodel-thin young women). It doesn't take psychic powers to determine early on that she's the Piggy of this group. The movie's cinematography and editing are well executed, and the actors don't have to do much more than act some combination of compliant, scared, aroused -- or, in the case of a couple of the baddies, psychopathic. Whitehead, with his Tom Hiddleston-like cheekbones and narrowed eyes, is well cast as the beautiful but bad villain. If audiences want to see a cast of attractive early 20-something actors in life-threatening and sexy situations, there are far better films than this eye-rollingly formulaic movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Voyagers. Is it necessary to the story? Why, or why not?

  • What do you think the movie's message is about "nature vs. nurture"? Is there any reason to expect that the "gifted" and "brilliant" biological children of world-class scientists, artists, engineers, and so forth are "above" baser behaviors?

  • How would you characterize the diversity and representation (or lack thereof) in this film? Why is the other characters' treatment of Phoebe especially problematic?

  • Did you notice the characters demonstrating teamwork, courage, and perseverance? Why are those important character strengths?

  • Discuss the use of a "love triangle" in the movie. Is it effective? Does it make sense? Why do you think so many teen-focused stories feature a love triangle?

Movie Details

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For kids who love sci-fi and teen romance

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