Rakka (2017)

A tale of a dystopian future where an unknown alien group have colonised the earth and humans struggle to fight back.

Director:

Neill Blomkamp

Writers:

Neill Blomkamp, Thomas Sweterlitsch

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Robert Hobbs

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Jasper
Eugene Khumbanyiwa	...	Amir
Robert Hobbs	...	Carl
Carly Pope	...	Sarah / Narrator
Brandon Auret	...	Nosh
Mike Huff	...	Politician
Owen Macrae	...	Klum
Connor Page	...	Child
Jay Anstey	...	Woman Bomber
Justin Shaw	...	Man in Medical Device
Carla Marais	...	8 Year Old Girl
Ryan Angilly	...	Martinez (as Ryan Angilley)
Alec Gillis	...	Militia #1
Ruan Coetzee	...	Militia #2
Paul Davies	...	Militia #3

Storyline

After a sudden and utterly devastating attack by the Klum, the technologically superior reptilian alien race, the Earth of the not-so-distant 2020 suffers from extensive terraforming, severe atmosphere altering--and above all--an almost complete extinction of humanity. With the last resilient survivors scattered over a nearly dead planet, mankind's last hope rests in a heroic resistance movement and in the hands of its leader, Jasper; however, before the hordes of the brutal and seemingly unstoppable extraterrestrials, the future is bleak. Is there a way to end the genocide?

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Plot Keywords:

exploding body | earth | soil | ground | planet | 

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Genres:

Short | Horror | Sci-Fi | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site - Oats Studios

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 June 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rakka

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oats Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oats is the name of the production studio created by feature film director writer and producer Neill Blomkamp. Oats Studio will release what Blomkamp calls experimental short sci-fi films, the first of which is Rakka.

User Reviews

Impressive effects and world, although the allegory is a bit uneasy

Rakka is one of several new sci-fi short films from Neill Blomkamp; seemingly all very well resourced and with a lot of ambition. Rakka creates an entire world in a very short period of time – one where lizard-esque aliens have taken over Earth and crushed humanity, apart from very small patches of resistance. The short is in three chapters, and ends in a way to feel like it is a proof-of-concept for something bigger, but at the same time it is pretty satisfying.

The narrative is not really where that occurs, because it is a sci- fi idea that has been done many times with different beasts or robots in the lead role. However the world that the film creates in a short time is fascinating – from the ideas around the aliens, the nature of the resistance, the experiments conducted, and of course just how impressive and committed the visual elements are. All of this is polished very well, leading the film to feel much bigger than it is. The downside of the short running time is that it perhaps doesn't fully satisfying – in particular I thought the ending could have been a bit less open than it was – not for the wider story, but just for this 20 minutes.

In terms of that polish; visually it is very impressive, with great design, sound, music, and atmosphere. The effects are impressive (not "for a short film" but just impressive), and of course having someone like Sigourney Weaver in your lead role can only help. There was one element that gave me pause though, and it was the way the film put the humans into the role of terrorists but yet didn't make that horrific or seem like a terrible but unavoidable cost. It is not an unique idea (Battlestar Galactica did it in its third season), but here the imagery is so clear (beheading, suicide vests) that it is an unavoidable meaning and connection to groups like ISIS, that it is a weird feeling that the film just lets it happen.

This aside, it is an impressive sci-fi short, with lots of polish, ideas, atmosphere, and potential.