BEYOND THE AQUILA RIFT: Episode Review – Love, Death + Robots

This episode was probably my personal favourite. (Though couldn’t choose between this and ‘The Secret War’) It is extremely well written with a brilliant twist at the end. The final lingering shot provoke chills among the audience, sparking the desire to see this short story turned into a motion picture.

The story revolves around a crew, captained by Thom, who travel through a space void. When Thom gets up from his Stasis Chamber after jumping through the portal, he meets a familiar face, Greta. They reconvene and discuss about what had happened to the ship, however, as the story progresses, it gets more and more convincing that Greta may not necessarily be the ‘good’ character she is portraying to be. Eventually, Greta’s true identity is exposed but the plot twist at the end, blows your mind, leaving you with your own interpretation of what just happened.

My favourite aspect though, was the sequencing of every shot in the story. The audience had an impression of every character or of a certain incident always guessing what may happen next, until everything is finally revealed… or is it.

There is some explicit content with an intimate scene between Thom and Greta but this is one episode where the nudity does make sense and fits into context.

Visually, it is breathtaking. I initially failed to differentiate this from a live action film. The smooth, white colour of the ship, is beautifully contrasted with the earthy, rustic colours of the ‘spider planet’ and the scene in the bar and room… absolutely gorgeous.

This episode is definitely a highlight in the anthology. It is visually striking and the twist in the end just keeps you thinking if whatever happened, actually did happen (If that makes sense). Overall, ‘Beyond The Aquila Rift’ is a highly enjoyable episode and ensures 16m of pure, quality entertainment.

Aryamaan’s Rating – 91/100