Taglines: No escape. No memory. 90 minutes to live.
Oxygen movie storyline. A woman awakes in a cryogenic chamber without memory and warned by an Artificial Intelligence named M.I.L.O. that she has only 32% of oxygen. She asks several questions to M.I.L.O. until she retrieves her name from one image, Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Hansen.
She asks M.I.L.O. to unlock the chamber, and he asks the password of the administrator to obey the order. Liz recalls that she is married with Léo Ferguson and succeeds to contact her agenda. She calls the police, and an inspector tries to calm her down. He asks the manufacturer and the number of the chamber to locate Liz and learn the password of administrator. While the oxygen is reducing, Liz finds where she is and why she cannot unlock the chamber.
Oxygen (French: Oxygène) is a 2021 French-language science fiction thriller film produced and directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Christie LeBlanc. An American-French co-production, it stars Mélanie Laurent as a woman who awakens trapped in an airtight medical cryogenic unit, with Mathieu Amalric and Malik Zidi in supporting roles. The film was released by Netflix on May 12, 2021, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
About the Story
A woman awakens in an airtight medical cryogenic unit, and discovers that she is trapped and that the unit’s oxygen levels are falling rapidly. Suffering from memory loss, she does not remember who she is or how she got there. She is assisted by an advanced AI named M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer), but it refuses to open the cryo unit without an administrator code. Using M.I.L.O., she is able to transmit outside the pod and contact emergency services. She provides them with the cryo unit’s model and serial number, which are printed on the interior.
Upon contacting the manufacturer they are told the unit was destroyed three years prior. Unable to recall her memories, she looks for clues about her past by searching for pictures and articles from M.I.L.O. and finds her name, Elizabeth (Liz) Hansen. She realizes she is a cryogenic doctor. She finds her husband, Léo Ferguson, and his contact number by accessing her social media, but when she calls his number a woman answers. She tells the woman that she is Léo’s wife and demands to speak to him. The woman seems confused and hangs up.
As the oxygen level continues to fall, Liz begins hallucinating and tries to open the pod, only to receive an electric shock. She then receives a call back from the police but suspects they are hiding something from her, and disconnects. The unknown woman she called earlier rings and tells her that Léo is dead. She also gives her the administrator code to open the pod, but tells her that if she opens the pod, she will die. Liz uses the code to give herself administrator access, but stops short of opening the pod when the unknown woman begs her to listen.
Following the woman’s instructions, Liz accesses controls for a centrifuge, and turns the centrifuge off. She begins floating weightlessly. After a brief explanation, it is revealed that she was placed into hypersleep 12 years ago, and has just embarked on a 34-year journey to a planet 14 light-years away. The mission is secret and mankind will be extinct in the near future due to a deadly virus – the virus that killed Léo.
Heartbroken, she learns that the awakening was due to a processor overheating, and realizes she must divert the functions of the processor to a less sophisticated processor assigned to non-essential functions, but fails since the data exceeds that processor’s capacity. As time passes and with the oxygen level fading, she prepares for suicide by attempting to open the pod.
Shortly after, she discovers Léo is also in hypersleep in the damaged spaceship together with nearly 10,000 others, but she notices he lacks a scar on his forehead that he had before. Upon further investigation, through a video of a presentation by an elderly version of her, it is revealed that she is a genetic clone with the original Elizabeth Hansen’s personality and memories implanted, including memories of Léo. The woman she has been speaking to on earth who designed the hypersleep units was herself, but the call disconnects as the spacecraft moves out of communications range.
Oxygen (2021)
Oxygène
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi, Laura Boujenah, Eric Herson-Macarel, Annie Balestra, Marc Saez, Cathy Cerda, Marie Lemiale, Pascal Germain, Lyah Valade
Screenplay by: Christie LeBlanc
Production Design by: Jean Rabasse
Cinematography by: Maxime Alexandre
Film Editing by: Hervé Schneid
Costume Design by: Agnes Beziers
Set Decoration by: Cécile Deleu
Art Direction by: Alexis McKenzie Main, Dominique Moisan. Marc Saez
Music by: ROB
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: May 12, 2021
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