Festival Trailer for Quebecois Mission to Mars Experiment Film ‘Viking’
by Alex Billington
September 14, 2022
Source: YouTube
“You are a near-perfect replica of our crew.” A festival promo trailer is out to watch for this funky sci-fi Quebecois film titled Viking, which is premiering at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival underway right now. A behavioral research team observes and attempts to replicate the experiences of the first manned mission to Mars. TIFF adds more: “The latest from Stéphane Lafleur (Tu dors Nicole) balances absurdist humour with poignant reflection on the human condition as it follows the subjects of behavioural research — and the astronauts they mirror — in advance of the first manned mission to Mars.” The film stars Steve Laplante, Larissa Corriveau, Fabiola N. Aladin, Hamza Haq, Denis Houle, Marie Brassard, and Martin-David Peters. Our friend at Quiet Earth watched this already, saying that “it’s that rare kind of science fiction where gadgets and fantasy are overshadowed by the mysteries of the human psyche, and arguably Lafleur’s finest film to date.” I’m always down for creative indie sci-fi like this – will be watching it soon, too.
Here’s the first official trailer for Stéphane Lafleur’s Viking, direct from TIFF’s YouTube:
Intro from TIFF: “As the film opens, David (Steve Laplante), the film’s ostensible hero, endures an intensely granular personality test. He’s part of a new initiative in which he and four others will mirror the behaviour of astronauts on the first manned flight to Mars, so that organizers of the mission can predict problems before they become insurmountable — or dangerous. Unfortunately, David, his colleagues, and the mission’s planners come up against the unpredictability of human emotions, complicated by the fact that the actual astronauts are drifting towards Mars. As the importance of their work and their decisions grows increasingly apparent, the film zeroes in on a key question: who is playing this odd game seriously, and how far do they intend to go?” Viking is directed by Quebecois editor / filmmaker Stéphane Lafleur, director of the films Continental, Familiar Grounds, and You’re Sleeping Nicole previously, plus a few short films and docs. The screenplay is by Eric K. Boulianne and Stéphane Lafleur. Produced by Luc Déry and Kim McCraw. This is premiering at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival this month. No release dates are set yet – stay tuned for news.