The teenage years are difficult time for adolescents trying to come with hormonal and physical changes. In the current age of Snapchat, social media and YouTube, it’s arguably never been harder. The urge to be different is often suppressed by the pressure to conform. In Alex Taylor’s debut feature Spaceship he takes all these youthful impulses and desires and lets them run amok; vibrant and unchecked.
Lucidia’s (Alexa Davies) mother died when she was seven-years-old and she’s been struggling to come to terms with the loss ever since. The same can be said for her father Gabriel (Antti Reini), an archaeologist whose life has been on hold since that tragic day. Lucidia’s friends include the dominating Alice (Tallulah Haddon), erstwhile boyfriend Luke (Lucian Charles Collier) and the dreamy Tegan (Lara Peake). They live happily adrift in their own worlds until Lucidia suddenly disappears into a piercing light.
Alex Taylor spent ten years talking to teenagers in an attempt to get inside their heads. He’s combined this with his own childhood experiences to create a daringly brave and unique portrait of adolescence. He removes all restraint and borders, creating a space which allows his characters to live-out their deepest desires. Spaceship removes all the barriers of social norms, allowing the protagonists to revel in a hazy, dreamlike, kaleidoscopic alternative reality.
Spaceship is in cinemas from Friday.
