Now Showing: Artemis

 

Artemis 

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller

Director: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah

Writer: Wesley Campbell

Producer: JJ Abrams

Based on the novel by Andy Weir

Cast: Zendaya, Ben Mendelsohn, Alexander Ludwig, Simu Liu, Jack Quaid, Ed Harris, Isabella Sermon, Regina King, BD Wong, Tais Araujo, Trevante Rhodes, Waleed Zuaiter

Plot: The story opens on the moon’s surface. Artemis takes place on the moon at an unspecified point in the future. Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara (Zendaya) is in an EVA suit that has slightly ruptured. She races back to Artemis—the moon’s only settlement—and she manages to enter an airlock before she loses too much air. Jazz was in the middle of taking the test for the EVA guild. Even though she performed well on the exam, Bob Lewis (Ed Harris) —who supervised the exam and the guild’s head—fails her because of the suit rupture. Dale Shapiro (Simu Liu), a Jazz’s guild and former friend, taunts her for failing the exam. Jazz makes a living as a courier and a smuggler. She bribes an importation official named Mr. Nakoshi to bring smuggled goods into the city.

Jazz arrives at the home of a very wealthy businessman named Trond Landvik (Ben Mendelsohn). Trond lives in the Shepard bubble, where all the wealthiest residents live. Irina, the housemaid, lets Jazz inside Trond’s house. Jazz has a delivery of smuggled cigars to give to Trond. She sees that Trond has another guest: a Hong Kong businessman named Jin Chu (BD Wong). Jin is holding a box that reads “ZAFO.” This ends with an e-mail exchange from about 17 years prior. A nine-year-old Jazz e-mails a Kenyan boy named Kelvin Otieno (Trevante Rhodes). Jazz was born in Saudi Arabia. Jazz’s mother left when Jazz was young. Jazz and her father moved to the moon when Jazz was six years old. Kelvin lives in Kenya and wishes to someday build rockets for the Kenya Space Corporation.

The Artemis neighborhood of Armstrong. Jazz arrives at an address to pick up a package, and she finds that the pick-up request was entered by Rudy DuBois (Alexander Ludwig), the head of security on Artemis. Rudy is constantly attempting to expose Jazz’s smuggling activities. For example, rudy pays Jazz to deliver a criminal to the Artemis prison. She does so, and Rudy transfers payment to Jazz’s handheld personal electronic device called a “Gizmo.” Soon after, a fire erupts at the Queensland Glass Factory. Jazz helps extinguish it and save the workers, although the factory is destroyed.

Jazz arrives at her favorite bar, Hartnell’s Pub. As Jazz chats with Billy, the bartender, she drinks and contemplates her bank balance of about 12,000 slugs. (Slug is the label for the moon’s unit of currency.) She has a particular goal of 416,922 slugs, but the narration does not yet specify why. She plans to reach her goal by giving EVA tours and smuggling goods.

Jazz receives a call from Trond and goes to his house. There, she is surprised to see Fidelis Ngugi (Regina King), the head administrator of the moon and the founder of the Kenya Space Corporation. Ngugi mentions her respect for Jazz’s father and says she regrets that he and Jazz “had a falling-out.” Ngugi soon leaves. Trond talks to Jazz about Sanchez Aluminum, which harvests metal ore from the moon, smelts it, and pumps the oxygen byproduct into Artemis. Trond wishes to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum to take over the oxygen contract. He says he will pay Jazz one million slugs if she destroys Sanchez Aluminum’s four metal harvesters. She does not fully understand why Trond wishes to take over this contract, but she agrees to the job in exchange for the payment.

Trond shows Jazz the metal harvesters that he owns, and she examines them. She determines that the best way to destroy Sanchez Aluminum’s harvesters is to shorten the battery, causing the battery to overheat and explode, thus causing catastrophic damage to the harvester. She later visits Martin Svoboda (Jack Quaid), a Ukrainian man who is a highly skilled scientist. She gives him the sketched schematics she drew of a tool she needs for sabotage. He agrees to build the tool. In exchange, he asks her to use a particular type of condom he invented the next time she has sex. He needs a woman to test it. Jazz reluctantly agrees and takes the condom. Next, Jazz visits her father, Ammar Bashara (Waleed Zuaiter). Their rapport appears somewhat cold and distant. Ammar is a devout Muslim and a highly skilled welder. Jazz asks to borrow some of his welding equipment. She tells him that she needs it for a welding job that she promised to a friend.

Jazz visits a woman who owns a hull inspection bot, or HIB. Jazz pays the woman to rent the robot. Later, Jazz buys some traditional Muslim clothing, including a niqab, which covers her face except for her eyes. She also acquires a new Gizmo and enters the alias Nuha Nejem. Outfitted with her disguise and alias, Jazz takes the train to the visitor center near the first lunar landing site. At the visitor center, she hides the HIB. After entering an airlock with an EVA tour group, she uses the remote control to secretly send the HIB into the airlock. During the tour, she controls the HIB to exit the airlock and then hide at the apex of the visitor center dome. An e-mail exchange between younger Jazz and Kelvin. Jazz is dating a boy named Sean. She and Sean had a private party with friends in her father’s welding workshop. Unfortunately, they accidentally caused an explosion that caused about 400,000 slugs worth of damage. Jazz and her father had a falling out, so Jazz went to live with Sean. Meanwhile, Kelvin landed a job as a cargo loading technician at the KSC.

Jazz uses the remote control to guide the HIB to the apex of the Conrad dome. Jazz then goes to a park to meet with Svoboda, who gives the unique tool he created. Later, Jazz fixes her EVA suit and covers all identifying marks. Next, Jazz goes to the Conrad dome’s airlock and uses the HIB to open it from the outside. She then travels toward the Sanchez Aluminum smelting facility on foot. She approaches a harvester, uses the welding tools from her father to expose the battery, and short circuits the battery. Unfortunately, the battery soon explodes and destroys the harvester. Another harvester soon approaches Jazz with a camera trained on her, and she realizes that she is being watched. Another e-mail exchange. Jazz says she has moved out of Sean’s apartment as he was caught having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Meanwhile, Kelvin and his family are having financial problems.

Jazz is soon approached by the other two harvesters as well. Jazz realizes that Sanchez Aluminum has likely contacted the EVA masters, who are probably now trying to apprehend Jazz. One of the harvesters strikes Jazz with its scoop. Jazz disables the harvesters by cutting their antennae. She causes one of the harvesters to explode, destroying the harvester next to it. One harvester remains, but she realizes that the EVA masters are approaching. So, she runs to the moon landing site and clings to the train as it returns to the visitor center. She enters the visitor center airlock and is caught doing so by Dale. Another e-mail exchange. Jazz has found a tiny apartment in which to live, and she has begun dating a man named Tyler.

Jazz and Dale’s ensuing conversation reveals that Tyler is gay. He and Dale are now a couple. This is the cause of Jazz and Dale’s falling out. Dale promises not to report Jazz if she agrees to drink with him weekly, as he wants to rekindle his and Jazz’s friendship. Jazz reluctantly agrees to this deal. Later, Jazz retrieves the HIB from the locker she had secretly stored hit. Rudy catches her doing so. Rudy suspects Jazz of being the perpetrator of the sabotage. Jazz had programmed her Gizmo to automatically surf the internet during the heist, so she tells Rudy to check her Gizmo history. Rudy is unconvinced. Rudy says that he will pay Jazz 100 slugs for the truth. Jazz turns down the payment. Rudy then knows she is lying, for she has her father’s “business ethics” and cannot accept money under pretenses. Rudy suspects that Jazz performed the sabotage for Trond Landvik, but Jazz denies it. Jazz wonders how Rudy was able to guess that Trond had hired her. Jazz again suspects there is more to Trond’s plan than he has revealed to Jazz.

Jazz and Kelvin have successfully implemented a smuggling operation to make extra money. Jazz goes to Hartnell’s Pub. She receives a text message from Trond, who is unhappy that she cannot destroy all four harvesters. Jazz goes to Trond’s house, but she sees that Trond and his housemaid Irina have been murdered.

As Jazz runs away from the murder scene, she sends Rudy a text about it. She then directly calls Kelvin and her father to tell them that she is temporarily hiding. Knowing the killer will likely pursue her, she hides in a secluded maintenance duct with food and water. The next day, Jazz investigates the murders by going to the hotel room where Jin Chu stays, as he may be somehow connected. In the room, a man with a large knife is waiting. When Jazz enters, the man lunges at her with the knife.

Jazz dodges the knife attack and pushes the man into the hotel hallway. A security guard chases the man away. Jazz surmises that the assassin was sent to kill Jin Chu, but she does not know why. In the hotel room safe, she finds a box containing a sample of “ZAFO” that appears to be an ordinary fiber-optic cable. She brings the sample to Svoboda, who offers to examine it for free “because you’re my friend.” Jazz then goes to a busy shopping area, activates her Gizmo, places it under a bench, and then watches from a distance. She believes the assassin and law enforcement will track her Gizmo and converge. Rudy finds Jazz at her vantage point. He informs her that Sanchez Aluminum is owned by O Palácio, Brazil’s largest crime syndicate. When the assassin appears, Rudy runs after him instead of pursuing Jazz. Later, Jazz receives a communication from Jin Chu, who thanks her for saving his life. He wants to meet with her to arrange for her protection. Jazz agrees to a meeting at her father’s welding shop.

Jazz and Jin meet at her father’s welding shop. They converse, and Jin informs her that he made money from O Palácio and Trond for telling them about ZAFO. He then made more money from O Palácio by informing them about Trond’s sabotage. The assassin then appears as Jin leads him to the meeting. Jazz manages to physically subdue both the assassin and Jin Chu before bringing them to Rudy’s police station. The assassin’s name is Marcelo Alvarez. He was hired by O Palácio. Ngugi arrives. A brief exchange between Ngugi and Rudy makes it clear to Jazz that Rudy hates organized crime. At the same time, Ngugi believes organized crime is necessary for a city to operate appropriately. Rudy wishes for Jazz to be prosecuted, but Ngugi orders Rudy to let her go. Rudy demands to know why, but Ngugi simply repeats her command. Rudy dislikes this development, but he has no choice but to comply.

Jazz goes to Hartnell’s Pub to keep her first weekly appointment with Dale for a drink. She informs Dale about recent developments and the money she has been trying to save to pay back her father. Jazz then goes to Svoboda’s lab. Svoboda informs her that the ZAFO sample is a fiber-optic cable that loses no light or data to heat transmission. ZAFO likely stands for “zero-attenuation fiber optic,” It can only be created in a low-gravity environment like the moon. Jazz has an epiphany and goes to Ngugi’s office. Jazz converses with Ngugi and postulates that material that improved data transmission would be precious, as all telecom companies would buy the material. Unfortunately, as the sole mining operation on Artemis, Sanchez Aluminum would monopolize ZAFO production. Jazz says that Ngugi must have been behind the plot to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum (implicitly so that Artemis would not fall under syndicate control.) Ngugi, realizing that she has been caught, produces a gun and points it at Jazz.

Ngugi explains that Artemis’ economy will soon collapse if another revenue source is not found, and ZAFO production is the only viable revenue source. She allowed Trond to move forward with his plans against Sanchez Aluminum. If Sanchez Aluminum controlled mining and smelting on the moon, they would soon control ZAFO production and then control Artemis through economic clout. Ngugi says that O Palácio will soon be on its way in force to the moon, so they need to figure out a way to quickly take control of mining and smelting away from them. Ngugi also states that the fire in the Queensland Glass factory was likely corporate sabotage by O Palácio to tighten corporate control on production related to ZAFO manufacturing. The next day, Jazz visits Lene Landvik (Isabella Sermon), Trond’s teenage daughter. Jazz says that Lene must be ready to buy out the mining and smelting operations from Sanchez Aluminum soon. Lene agrees to be part of the plan. Jazz then contacts Kelvin, who can send her detailed schematics of Sanchez Aluminum’s lunar smelting facility.

Jazz is at Hartnell’s Pub, which Billy has closed so that Jazz can have a private meeting space. Dale, Bob Lewis, Svoboda, Lene Landvik, and Ammar Bashara are in attendance. Jazz tells everyone about the saga of Trond, Jin Chu, Sanchez Aluminum, O Palácio, Ngugi, and herself. She explains that if they do not act fast, O Palácio will soon have economic and sociopolitical control of Artemis. Next, Jazz explains her sabotage plan on the Sanchez Aluminum smelting facility. With the smelter destroyed, Ngugi will transfer exclusive mining rights to the Landvik corporate estate. Everyone agrees to help. First, Ammar helps Jazz build a makeshift air shelter that is a necessary part of the plan. Jazz is moved by the extreme care and thoroughness Ammar uses to construct the shelter. When everything is prepared, Jazz and Dale put on EVA suits and drive out of Artemis in Bob’s moon rover. Jazz and Dale briefly discuss their friendship but then must refocus on the mission.

Jazz and Dale arrive at the airtight bubble that contains the smelting facility. First, they exit the rover and place the air shelter on the ground. Next, they place it outside the bubble’s outer hull, and Ammar guides Jazz over the radio as she welds the shelter to the hull. They then fill the shelter with air using the rover’s auxiliary tanks. Finally, they enter the airtight shelter, and Jazz uses welding tools to cut open the outer hull.

Jazz cuts a hole in the outer hull, exposing the fill material of dry dust and rocks. Jazz digs out the material and cuts a hole in the inner wall. She is then able to enter the smelting facility. She sneaks in and sabotages the cooling system. This activates danger alarms, and Jazz watches as the staff flees. The overheating facility will soon erupt. Jazz believes that all she and Dale need to do is flee. However, Jazz soon sees that one person has remained in the facility. It is Loretta Sanchez (Tais Araujo), the head of Sanchez Aluminum.

Jazz yells to Loretta and says that Loretta needs to come with her or be killed by the sabotaged smelter. Loretta, realizing she has no choice, begrudgingly goes with Jazz. They enter the rover, where Dale is waiting, and they drive away as the smelter begins to self-destruct. When they try to contact the others, no one answers. Finally, they arrive at Artemis and see the train connected to one of the bubbles. The passengers are all unconscious. Loretta suddenly panicked and realized that the sabotage must have caused the smelter to create airborne chloroform and pump it into Artemis. Loretta explains that chloroform will kill everyone if the problem is not fixed soon. They realize they need to access Artemis’ life support system to pump uncontaminated air into Artemis. They approach an airlock, and Jazz can enter Artemis while wearing a breathing mask. However, a breach in the rover causes Dale and Loretta to fall unconscious due to chloroform.

Jazz rushes to Rudy’s office, as she will need Rudy’s Gizmo to access life support systems. She arrives at Rudy’s office and takes his Gizmo, but she is attacked by Alvarez, wearing a breathing mask and wielding a length of pipe. Jazz manages to take his breathing mask, and he falls unconscious. She takes the pipe and runs to the location of the life support systems. However, she sees insufficient air to replace the contaminated air. She tells this over the radio to Dale and Loretta, whose lungs have absorbed all of the chloroform in the rover, causing them to be awake. Jazz realizes that Trond’s air reserves will be sufficient, but she will not access them without an EVA suit. She tells Dale to meet her at an airlock, as he and Loretta now have the two EVA suits.

Jazz uses an airtight mobile ball used by tourists. They access the valves connected to Trond’s oxygen reserves, but one valve is stuck. Jazz realizes that the only solution is to strike the valve with the length of the pipe, thus rupturing her containment ball. She does so and is pulled into the thick atmosphere of the moon.

Jazz awakens in the Artemis medical bay. Dale and Loretta saved Jazz just after Jazz saved Artemis. Svoboda visits her in the medical bay, and Jazz kisses him. Lene pays Jazz the one million slugs promised by Trond. Jazz uses about 400,000 to buy her father a new workshop, and she and her father reconcile. Jazz meets with Ngugi, who says she must deport Jazz to demonstrate law and order. Jazz points out that smuggling unwanted items such as firearms will become rampant without her. Ngugi relents, but she finds Jazz 550,000 slugs. Jazz is upset but knows she will soon be making a lot of money due to the incoming influx of residents as the ZAFO production industry rises. Jazz drinks with Dale and finally forgives him for the events concerning Tyler.