Movie Review: In 'I.S.S.,' war on Earth disrupts life aboard the International Space Station

After decades when fears of mutual destruction and nuclear fallout filtered into movies from “Fail Safe” to “WarGames,” anxiety over current Russian-American geopolitics plays a provocative role in the new space thriller “I

With war raging in Ukraine and U.S.-Russia relations below freezing, the Cold War movie may be alive, again, too.

After decades when fears of mutual destruction and nuclear fallout filtered into movies from “Fail Safe” to “WarGames,” anxiety over current Russian-American geopolitics plays a provocative role in the new space thriller “I.S.S.”

Gabriela Cowperthwaite's film, opening in theaters Friday, is set aboard the International Space Station, which the opening credits note is a symbol of post-Cold War U.S.-Russia collaboration. The astronauts and cosmonauts are a friendly band of fellow scientists, but that harmony is significantly challenged when bombs begin falling across the Earth's surface. Gazing down below, bioengineer Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) initially thinks the bright flashes all over North America are volcano eruptions.

It's an intriguing premise that “I.S.S.” can't translate into a coherent thriller. But it's striking that exactly 60 years after “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” we are again offered the chance to sit in the dark and contemplate the horror of a speculative U.S.-Russia war. History may not repeat itself, but movie genres might.

One reason why “I.S.S.” isn't successful, though, is that it feels more cribbed from past Cold War movies than it does any current reality. It was penned by Nick Shafir, whose script landed on the Black List in 2020, several years before the war in Ukraine began. And its chamber-piece framework — the space station is essentially the film's sole setting — carries over many of the dynamics that defined Cold War movies of the late 20th century. Among the three Americans and three Russians on board are hawks and doves; each nationality mirrors the other.