Orbiter 9

Orbiter 9
Directed by Hatem Khraiche
Produced by Christian Conti
Miguel Menendez de Zubilaga
Gabriel Arias-Salgado
Written by Hatem Khraiche
Starring Clara Lago
Álex González
Music by Federico Jusid
Cinematography Pau Esteve
Edited by Antonio Frutos
Distributed by Cactus Flower
Dynamo
Mono Films
Telefonica Studios
Release date
  • April 7, 2017 (2017-04-07)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country Spain
Colombia
Language Spanish

Orbiter 9 (Spanish: Órbita 9) is a 2017 science fiction romantic drama directed by Hatem Khraiche[1] in his directorial debut. It stars Clara Lago and Alex Gonzalez. The film premiered in Spain on April 7, 2017.

Plot

The plot follows Helena, who has lived her whole life on what she believes to be a space ship. She is isolated and alone, her parents having told her they would commit suicide so that she could survive, due to an urgent depletion of oxygen aboard the ship. When an engineer named Alex boards her ship for repairs, she invites him to have dinner with her. Following this, she approaches him in his cabin where he is asleep, and says that she has never been kissed. They make love.

Alex exits the craft and we see that he is in fact on Earth. He drives his truck to a lab where it becomes clear that the module numbered 9 in which Helena lives is only one of 10 modules in which human guinea pigs are being monitored for their whole lives, in the interest of an eventual mission to reach a planet called Celeste. Celeste offers humanity's only hope of survival, since Earth's oceans are poisoned. Alex was a pioneer of the program to reach Celeste and to study the human guinea pigs, but he has now rebelled.

Alex is unable to resist returning to visit Helena. He reveals to her that her ship is only an observation module in which all her movements and bio-signs are recorded daily. Her reality is flipped upside down. Alex saves Helena from a peril she doesn’t know she’s in, secretly smuggling her out to his own apartment. She experiences things she has never felt before - the wind on her skin, the feel of rain and so on.

While Alex is out, Helena discovers documents indicating she, like the other program subjects, is a clone. She is furious and hunts down her 'parents', who are in fact scientists not related to her. The 'father' wants to turn her in but the 'mother' lets her escape. She returns to Alex and despite his keeping the secret from her, continues to trust him.

They are both now in danger, and as the authorities begin to suspect Alex's betrayal of the program, they hunt down and kill Silvia, a psychologist whom Alex has visited on a regular basis. Silvia has provided Alex and Helena with a safe house, an apartment she owns but never visits.

The authorities hunt the pair. Alex is allowed to get away, but Helena is captured.

Alex comes up with a way to be with Helena again. She is pregnant, and the scientists running the program are unable to resist allowing Helena to birth her child so they can study it. Helena has one condition before she agrees to return to the program.

At the end, a small child exits the orbiter 9 simulation at night with an aged Hugo, the Chief Scientist, waiting. The young girl looks up at the sky as it lights up with the first ships heading to Celeste.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10.[2]

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ Hopewell, John (13 February 2016). "Telefonica Studios Furthers Drive Into Latin America". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Orbiter 9 (Órbita 9) (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Orbiter 9". Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2018.


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