Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Vesper Blu-ray Movie Review

In a world without hand sanitizer...

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 10, 2023

Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper's Vesper is a neat little sci-fi import that seasons its post-apocalyptic stew with good old-fashioned bacteria. Clearly taking its cues from the COVID-19 pandemic, it depicts a world in ecological crisis where engineered viruses and organisms have escaped into the wild and now dominate plant and animal life, killing off entire species while most humans live in enclosed "citadels". They survive and even thrive due to carefully-controlled seed trading, but those who live outside the boundaries of citadels -- such as 13 year-old Vesper (Raffiella Chapman) and her paralyzed father Darius (Richard Brake) -- must literally fend for themselves. Others, such as Vesper's uncle Jonas (Richard Brake), form makeshift communities and, in his case, use questionable means to earn a living; he sells the extracted blood of young children to citadels while using artificial humans to do most of the hard work.

Vesper mostly concerns itself with survival, exploration, and the various encounters faced by Vesper and Darius, who communicates with his daughter via a floating drone while recovering back at their house. It's established early on that Vesper is a bright young girl with a particular gift for bio-engineering, and she hopes to continue her experiments with citadel seeds to hopefully "unlock" them for perennial growth... rather than the one-season limit they're encoded with. During her travels she also finds Camelia (Rosy McEwen), whose citadel-bound ship crashed nearby; after rescuing her from certain death in the bacteria-filled forest, Camelia is grateful and agrees to assist in Vesper and Darius' mission, although the outsider must be kept hidden from uncle Jonas for reasons soon to be revealed.

This low-budget film is nothing if not ambitious, with its financial limitations rarely showing up on-screen: Vesper establishes a unique world and is assisted greatly by top-notch practical effects and sporadic CGI, both of which rarely distract by fitting in well with the foggy, decaying backdrop and crude, junk-filled interiors. But this is a slow-burn film, one whose mythology and lore could've used some fine-tuning and polish... or at least been smoothed over with better exposition. This applies to several late-period revelations and even the opening sequence which, by science fiction law, includes a mandatory wall of establishing text. Perhaps the language barrier was a factor: Vesper is almost entirely in English despite the respective Soviet and French backgrounds of its co-directors (who previously collaborated on 2012's Vanishing Waves and the short segment "K is for Knell" from 2014's The ABCs of Death 2), and thus its script reads somewhat like an English dub. There's still a lot to like about what they've accomplished here, which occasionally achieves the grandiosity of post-apocalyptic A-list films like Blade Runner 2049 for pennies on the dollar.

Unfortunately Vesper fizzled at the box office, barely making a whisper Stateside while collectively earning less than half of its modest €5 million budget. All the more reason to warrant a second life on home video and IFC Films' Blu-ray is up to the challenge, offering a great A/V presentation and a few lightweight extras for the asking price.

Vesper Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Vesper's 1080p presentation looks great on this dual-layered disc, which proves to be more than enough real estate for just over two hours of content (most of which is framed at 2.39:1). I'll go ahead and assume this was an all-digital production, because it certainly looks the part with crisp detail and a smooth but not waxy appearance that doesn't look to have any artificial grain added. There are plenty of organic textures to make up for it, though, from practical effects to other tangible background elements like dense foliage, decaying structures, rocky soil, skin pores, and mechanical odds and ends. This is also mirrored in the color palette, which is mostly cold and gray -- or at least severely muted -- with occasional patches of heavier saturation, such as the yellow lighting of an indoor garden (screenshot #4), warm lanterns, display readouts, and the deep blue of approaching nighttime. Challenging moments like heavy fog and haze even hold up fairly well, with only occasional hints of compression artifacts or banding. These are very few and far between, as the large majority of Vesper couldn't look much better on Blu-ray than it does here.

Vesper Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Not to be outdone is the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, which provides a suitably wide-open but sparse atmosphere, depending on the subject matter. Directional effects are limited but leave quite an impression, such as the fly-by of Camelia's ship, echoing background elements, and of course more abstract effects like atonal and bass hits to signal unsettling dread. Dialogue is mostly anchored right up front but likewise drifts into the rears on occasion, especially outdoors and even in more cramped environments, including inside Vesper's home as well as an underground tomb-like structure that she visits early on. All told, it's a great-sounding mix that could have only been more impressive with a full-fledged Dolby Atmos track, although under the circumstances that isn't exactly a realistic request.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, as is an English descriptive audio track.

Vesper Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art, a matching slipcover, and a promotional insert. The bite-sized extras are mostly promotional in nature and could have easily been combined into one featurette.

• A Hero in the Wasteland (2:15) - Key members of the cast and crew, including co-director Kristina Buozyte and lead actor Raffiella Chapman, offer their thoughts on the main character's role in the film.

• The Drone Factor (2:15) - Actor Richard Brake (who appeared in the previous piece) and other returning contributors speak briefly about the character of Darius and his unique companion drone.

• A Chronicle of the Future (3:58) - Many of the same participants, this time also including co-director Bruno Samper and actor Rosy McEwen ("Camelia"), discuss post-apocalyptic settings and production design.

• The World of Tomorrow (2:56) - The usual suspects expand a bit more on the world created for Vesper and its unique vision of the future, from set construction to the CGI and practical effects.

Vesper Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper's Vesper isn't exactly flawless entertainment, but it's got a great premise and atmosphere with an overall feel that defies its modest budget. It may or may not develop into a cult classic, but I'd imagine time will be kinder to this one that most. It's definitely worth a look for those who enjoy slow-burn science fiction, and IFC Films' Blu-ray is up to the challenge with excellent A/V merits and a few thin but appreciated bonus featurettes. Mildly Recommended as a blind buy, although you may want to stream it first.