Prospect

The Gold Rush goes intergalactic in this sci-fi western, expanded by co-directors Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell from their 2014 short. Prospecting astronaut Damon (Jay Duplass) and his teenage daughter Cee (Sophie Thatcher) aim to strike it rich mining rare gems that grow inside alien pods on a distant moon. When tragedy strikes, Cee is forced to team up with scavenger Ezra (Pedro Pascal) to fight the toxic forest's other ruthless raiders and religious settlers and escape with their harvest intact. The film-makers use their tight budget to great effect, creating a convincingly ragged future replete with grimy atmosphere, smart special effects and some gruesome frontier surgery. Pascal and newcomer Thatcher make a forceful team and hold things together as the power balances continually shift, with only a few overly talky sequences slowing the pace. Overall, this is an effective and intelligent slice of cosmic true grit.