It currently holds a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Thursday, 20 February) is Vesper, one of the best sci-fi movies of recent years.
Having premiered at festivals in 2022 to rave reviews, the movie is set after the collapse of the Earth’s ecosystem. It follows the title character, a 13-year-old girl (Raffiella Chapman), as she uses her survival skills to support her and her ailing father (Richard Brake, Barbarian) in a strange and dangerous new world.
“When Vesper finds a mysterious woman, Camellia (Rosy McEwen, Blue Jean), alone and disoriented after an aerial crash, she agrees to help find her missing companion in exchange for safe passage to the Citadel – the dark central hub where oligarchs live in comfort thanks to state-of-the-art biotechnology,” the plot synopsis reads.
“Vesper soon discovers that her brutal neighbour, Jonas (Eddie Marsan, Ray Donovan), is searching for Camellia, who is harbouring a secret that could change all of their lives forever.
“Forced into a dangerous adventure, Vesper must rely on her wits and bio-hacking abilities to unlock the key to an alternate future.”
Made on a reported budget of just €5 million, co-directors Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper – through gorgeous forest locations and well-deployed special effects – manage to conjure up an impressively haunting vision of a decaying Earth that is only barely being kept alive by technology.
The film also features an easy-to-root for protagonist and an imaginative screenplay filled with fascinating details that help build out the movie’s world as it puts its lead character through the wringer.
If you need more proof of the movie’s merits, it currently holds a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Vesper is airing tonight on Film4 at 9pm. It will also be available to stream on Channel 4’s website after it airs.
Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:
Robin Hood – ITV4 – 9pm
Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s gritty Robin Hood reimagining.
The Ladykillers – Sky Arts – 9pm
In this much-adored ’50s black comedy, five criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms from an elderly widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Rogue – Legend – 9pm
Megan Fox stars in this 2020 action thriller as a battle-hardened mercenary who leads a team of soldiers on a daring mission to rescue hostages in remote Africa that ends up going very awry.
Grimsby – Comedy Central – 10pm
Sacha Baron Cohen is a football hooligan whose brother (Mark Strong) is a top MI6 spy in this raunchy comedy.
Safe – Sky Showcase – 10pm
A quite underrated Jason Statham action flick where he plays a homeless man who must protect a young child with a deadly secret.
The Wall – Legend Xtra – 11pm
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena star in this war thriller as two American soldiers trapped by an Iraqi sniper.
Parallel – Sky Sci-Fi – 11pm
This 2018 Canadian sci-fi thriller about multiverses has an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Ghosts of War – Legend – 11.10pm
In this 2020 horror, five American soldiers assigned to hold a French Chateau near the end of World War II encounter a supernatural enemy.
The Running Man – Film4 – 11.20pm
This dystopian action thriller about a TV show where convicted criminal ‘runners’ must escape death at the hands of professional killers stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and will be getting a remake this year.
Stan & Ollie – BBC Four – 11.45pm
This biographical comedy-drama sees Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly play legendary comedy double act Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Luther: Never Too Much – Sky Arts – 11.45pm
The acclaimed new music documentary about American soul and R&B singer Luther Vandross.
Read more:
- The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 34
- Turn your home into a cinema with projector on sale for limited time only
- One of the best war movies of the 21st century is on TV tonight
