Director: Kornel Mundruczo

Writer: Kornel Mundruczo, Kata Weber (Screenplay)

Starring: Merab Ninidze, Zsombor Jeger, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Monika Balsai

Plot: Aryan is a Syrian refugee trying to make his way into Hungary from Serbia, along with his father and many other wretched souls. They are all caught, and find themselves in a web of cynicism and corruption.

Runtime: 2 Hour 9 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Interesting Sci-Fi Film

Story: Jupiter’s Moon starts as Syrian refugee Aryan (Jeger) is trying to get into Hungary and becomes separated from his father and ends up getting shot by the police. Once the officer moves away Aryan shows an ability to push the bullets out of his body, which brings him to the attention of Dr Gabor Stern (Ninidze) who sees the abilities to make him standout from the world, with the added ability to float and fly.

Being chased down by the authorities, Aryan gets a lesson of fitting into the everyday life in Hungary from Gabor only to soon learn the harsh reality of the world he is part of and just how the people it in will use him solely for his ability.

Thoughts on Jupiter’s Moon

Characters – Gabor Stern is a respected doctor in Hungary, he gives up his own time to help the refugees in the camps even though this latest visit changes his life forever, because he meets a young man is amazing abilities which puts him against the law to help teach the man about the culture of Hungary. He does come off selfish at times with his motivations to help Aryan but as the film does he will learn the lessons needed. Aryan is the young man shot only to survive the bullet wounds because of his ability to escape difficult situations and enter Hungary on the more legal methods. In the rest of the characters we learn about a cop that is chasing down the refugee and the woman that Gabor is seeing who must decide who see will support.

Performances – The performances from the cast are good through the film, we mainly focus on Merab Ninidze and Zsombor Jeger who show good chemistry on screen together, we see the naivety from the younger actor for his character and the parental figure in the older.

Story – The story follows a refugee that has unseen abilities that is taken in by a doctor who wants to use his abilities to get financial benefits while also showing him how to fit into society, we do get to touch on the difficult subject of how refugees are treated as terrorist if they are from the countries that are involved in conflict. This is an interesting story because if this had been a straight drama we might not have enjoyed on the same level, but the added sci-fi elements making this young man different are what makes this story feel unique while approaching the subject in question.  

Sci-Fi – The sci-fi elements in the film focus on the young man with the abilities people can’t explain, being able to fly and float away from problems.

Settings – The film has two main settings, first we get to see how compact and difficult the refugee camps are on the people, the rest is set in Hungary which is a nice city to be able to travel around for a film.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are simple, they show how people are reacting to seeing Aryan floating without needing to give him anything to make him look like a superhero or anything.

Scene of the Movie – The train incident.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – There are certain scenes we don’t need in the film.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting sci-fi film that adds this elements to the serious nature of refugees needing to be able to find a safe place to call home.

Overall: Sci-Fi Different.

Rating