What would you do if you were stuck in a group of four people with only enough supplies for three of you to survive? That is the great dilemma posed in the recently released “Stowaway,” Netflix’s newest sci-fi thriller.
Directed by former YouTuber Joe Penna, “Stowaway” follows a three-person crew on a mission to Mars whose assignment is compromised when they discover an accidental stowaway on board after takeoff. With only enough oxygen for three people, the group must make a dire decision in order to survive.
The film builds a lot of tension not only as the characters are faced with a life-or-death situation but also as the characters are confined to a small spaceship with only each other. “It’s obviously necessary for the film to have the practical person and the idealist person so you could create some more of that tension,” Anna Kendrick explained of the dynamic between her and Daniel Dae Kim’s character. “I was more of a David—more of Daniel’s character—the person who’s going, ‘Well let’s be practical, let’s be realistic here.’”
Penna also pointed out how editing the movie while on set helped further create the relationships between the characters. “I could watch huge portions of it and say, ‘You know what? If we have Anna Kendrick and Daniel Dae Kim having this massive emotional battle later in the film, then I can do something earlier where we can really show that they’re friends,” he described.
In conjunction with having a small group of all-star actors, “Stowaway” is considerably diverse with two women, a black man and an Asian man at the helm of a science fiction film. “These characters are just who they are,” said Shamier Anderson who plays the titular stowaway. “[My character is] just a human going through human experiences which is such a rarity to be able to just see people who look like me just living life. It doesn’t have to be a racialized thing.”
“Well of course the diversity of the cast is something that attracted me to the role,” Kim added. “When I first heard that it was Toni and Anna and Shamier … that’s always something that I look at when considering something, but beyond the diversity of it, I was just really thrilled to be able to work with just talented actors.”
Watch the full interview above to see more of what the cast and director had to say and watch “Stowaway” on Netflix.
