Away is an American science fiction drama television series, created by Andrew Hinderaker. It stars Hilary Swank, Josh Charles, Vivian Wu, Mark Ivanir, Ray Panthaki, Ato Essandoh, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Felicia Patti, Gabrielle Rose, and Adam Irigoyen in the lead roles. This series has a total of 10 episodes and was released on 4th September 2020 on Netflix.
This series shows the journey of the first group of people to Mars, The Mars Joint Initiative. The group has 5 crews, an American commander Emma Green (Hilary Swank), a Chinese Chemist Lu Wang (Vivian Wu), a British Botanist Dr. Kwesi (Ato Essandoh), a Russian Cosmonaut Misha Popov (Mark Ivanir), and an Indian Medical Officer Ram Arya (Ray Panthaki). The series proceeds further to show what these astronauts have to go through in three years, away from their homes and loved ones.
The show's screenplay has been written by Chris Jones, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Jessica Goldberg, Ellen Fairey, Jason Katims, Janine Nabers. I will say that it's beautifully written. The series not only shows the five astronauts dealing with the difficulties related to the journey to Mars, but it majorly explores the emotional angle of the characters which we hardly witness in any space movie or series. It offers a lot of drama, and trust me, it's worth it. The characters are so deep, and their past and traumas are explained and portrayed so clearly, it's not hard to get emotionally attached to every character. This breathtaking journey also covers the characters that are on Earth, who are always in touch with the one on the journey.
The scenes are very heavy on emotion and hard-hitting, as you can genuinely relate to the emotions of the astronauts. Emma's daughter Alexis (Talitha Eliana Bateman), who always worries about her mother, and what would she do when she dies, develops a relationship with Isaac (Adam Irigoyen), who also lost his father at a very young age. They become close as Alexis connects with Isaac, as he lost his father and she thinks that she's going to lose her mother too. The screenplay has been written with so honesty and with a pure heart, the drama never seems forced rather you'll be invested in these characters from the first episode. After a very long time, I've come across such amazing characters on screen. Emma Green played by Hilary Swank is impulsive and never hesitates to help anyone in need. Her conversations with her husband Matt, played by Josh Charles and her daughter Alexis, will melt your heart. The scenes are so warm and ardent, even the dynamics between the characters are amazingly detailed and presented. The tension between Emma and Misha, even the love angle between Emma and Ram is so brilliantly depicted. Special mention to the dialogues, that are so expressive, warm, touching, and moving, it takes every scene to another level and hence it's very effective and a true tear-jerker.
Hilary Swank as Emma is just brilliant and brings life to Emma's character. She nails every scene, whether she's portraying a commander or a mother. Vivian Wu as Lu is effective, and Mark Ivanir as Misha too, they both are quite negative at the starting of the series but gradually witnessing their pain and traumas, you'll start liking them. Ray Panthaki as Ram and Ato Essandoh as Kweski are surely gonna win your heart with their performance. Ray Panthaki is terrific especially in that episode where he was suffering from viral fever. Josh Charles as Matt and Talitha Eliana Bateman as Alexis is a delight to watch. The cinematography by Brian Pearson, David Boyd, and Timothy A. Burton is exceptional. Most of the time, the camera focuses on the actor's faces and they bring out the expressions and their feelings alive on screen. The production design and Visual Effects are worth watching and the background music is very effective and ethereal and elevates the impact of the scenes.
Away is a beautiful series, that not just presents the journey of five astronauts to Mars, but shows that they're human too and they can be vulnerable just like us in certain situations. The losing of eyesight by Misha, the skin coming out from the bottom of the leg of Kweski, and many more scenes are hard-hitting and the series overall is very heavy on emotion and a true tear-jerker. The series is very long which could have been better if it was made of 7-8 episodes only. It's definitely a worth watching show, and don't expect it to be pure sci-fi, it has been used as a backdrop to the story but is an emotional drama at its core.
Rating:- 3.5/5
Now on Netflix.
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