Vesper (2023)

Summary: Vesper is a 13 year old girl. Surviving in a dystopian future with her paralysed father, who accompanies her as a drone which talks. The environment has been taken over by many sentient plants which are a threat and the privileged live in “citadels”. Living close to Vesper’s home is Uncle Jonas, who collects blood to sell and so has children and “Jugs” under his care. A flying machine crashes in the wood and Vesper finds a young woman close to it who she saves. The woman turns out to be a jug, Camellia, made by her carer, but with emotions and when Vesper goes to find the machine, Jonas is there, and kills the injured flyer. Jugs are non-humans used for work, and the woman turns out to be one with emotions – an illegal development. There are seeds, collected by Vesper, which are fertilised with Camellia’s help. Later, chased by citadel soldiers. Camellia and Vesper go on the run.  How will it work out?

Content: There is no sex, and just a bit of sort of nudity, of a Jug. Vesper and the drone explore the forest around her home, and at one point she sells some blood to Jonas, apparently traded with the citadels. A lot of plants and trees seem to exhibit signs of life and the world is obviously dangerous. It is mostly pretty dark. Even in the day the sun does not seem to shine. Vesper’s father lies immobile on his bed, and apparently controls the drone which looks like a football, and accompanies Vesper on her adventures. Once the soldiers from the citadel come looking for Camellia things change.

A View: The strange structures shown in the poster do not seem to have a place in the film. In my summary I have tried to write a description of what I saw on the screen, although my knowledge of the plot has been enhanced by my reading of the Wikipedia entry. The environment is engaging to the point that it is a bit of a surprise to return to the real world, but I, obviously like a lot of other people, would have liked a bit more exposition. It has not been a big seller, maybe because not many critics have shown an interest, but if you have read my summary and still have an interest, you might want to give it a go.

Dystopian future is a favoured subject for movies, and I have reviewed 51 of them on this site. Three lesser known examples of the genre include: Seeking a Friend at the End of the World, Soldier and Children of Men.