Voyagers explores complexities of coming of age in space

A crew of young people on a lifelong expedition to colonize a distant planet grow frustrated with their rigidly controlled existence and begin to rebel, putting the mission at risk, in Voyagers. Director Neil Burger’s (Limitless) new film is part classic space epic, part mystery and part dark psychological thriller. All those elements serve as a framework to explore questions of morality, freedom, power, and the fundamental core of human nature.

(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

Burger was inspired by two vivid mental images. “The first was a group of young people sitting around inside a spaceship,” he said. “They were disheveled, zoned out, and looking like predators resting after a hunt. I don’t know where that image came from. But the second [image] implied a story: that same group of people chasing another crew member down the narrow corridor of the ship, pursuing him like an animal.”