Red Planet (2019 film)

Red Planet is a 2019 science fiction film written and directed by Jason Evans and produced by Evans and Stephen Williams. It stars Christian Bale as an astronaut named Dave who, after nearly 2000 years in sleep isolation, awakens to find himself, and other crewmates, on a planet occupied by redheaded people.

Red Planet was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on September 18, 2019, and was a commercial success, earning a domestic gross of $202.6 million. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised it's epic-scale and acting but criticised it's runtime and it's comparisons to Planet of the Apes.

Plot
Astronauts Dave, Meredith, Harvey, and Chris from the European Space Agency prepare themselves for deep hibernation for a light-speed space voyage. They come across several asteroids that interfere with satellite connections. After fixing them, they head to sleep in hibernation. Many years later, they awaken only to find the dead body of Meredith caused by a sleep chamber malfunction caused by an air leak. Their spacecraft crashes onto the Red Lake on an unknown planet; Dave’s estimate places them in Orion’s Bellatrix System, 300 light-years from their home, the Solar System. They read the ship’s chronometer as September 18, 3987 A.D. – one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight years after their departure in 2019. Due to time dilation, the crew have aged slightly less than one year.

After escaping their sinking vessel, the men travel through desolate wasteland, coming across eerie dead skeleton-like figures and a lake with lush vegetation. Whilst swimming for a wash, the men’s clothes are stolen and shredded by primitive silent humans. Soon after, armed redheads raid a red coloured meadow where the others are gathering food. Dave is shot in the throat as he and the others are captured. Harvey is murdered and Chris is rendered unconscious in the chaos. Dave is taken to Red City. Two redheads, psychologist Mary and surgeon Andrew, save Dave’s life, through his throat injury renders him temporarily mute. Dave is placed with a captive female brunette, whom he later names Trixie. He observes an advanced society of redheads with a strict caste system: redheads are the military enforcers; blondies oversee government and religion; and ginger people are scientists and doctors.

The redhead society is a theocracy, while the redheads consider the non-redhead (ninjas) primitive humans as slaves to be hunted, killed, enslaved, or used in experiments. Dave convinces Mary and her fiancé Marcus, that he is as intelligent as they are; one way by making origami with a used newspaper. Dr. Mollett, the medical supervisor, arranges for Dave to be castrated against Mary’s protests. Dave escapes and finds Harvey’s stuffed corpse in a museum. After being assaulted by the redheads, he is recaptured, in the process revealing that he can speak, alarming the redheads. Later, a hearing is called to determine Dave’s origin. Dave mentions his two colleagues, learning that Chris was lobotomized and rendered catatonic. Believing that Dave is from an unknown ninja tribe beyond their borders, Mollett privately threatens to castrate and lobotomize Dave for refusing to reveal his origins.

With help from Mary’s nephew Lucas, Mary and Marcus free Dave and Trixie and take them to the Danger Zone, a taboo region outside Red City where Dave’s spacecraft crashed. Marcus and Mary are intent to gather proof of an earlier non-simian civilization – which Marcus discovered a year earlier – to be cleared of heresy; Dave focuses on proving that he comes from a different planet. When the group arrives at the cave, Marcus is intercepted by Mollett and his soldiers. Dave holds them off by threatening to shoot Mollett, who agrees to enter the cave to disprove their theories. Inside, Marcus displays remnants of a technologically advanced human society pre-dating simian history. Dave identifies artifacts such as cigarettes, sunglasses, a heart valves and, to the redheads’ astonishment, a talking ninja doll.

Mollett admits he has always known about the ancient ninja civilization. Dave wants to search for answers. Mollett warns Dave against finding an answers which he doesn’t like, adding that the now-desolate Danger Zone was once a lush paradise. After Dave and Trixie are allowed to leave, Mollett has the cave sealed off to destroy the evidence, whilst charging Mary, Marcus, and Lucas with heresy. Dave and Trixie follow the shoreline on horseback. Eventually, they discover the remnants of Big Ben, revealing that this alien planet is actually Earth, millions of years after an apocalyptic nuclear war. Understanding Mollett’s earlier warning while Trixie looks on in shock, Dave falls to his knees in despair, condemning humanity for destroying the world.

Cast
Christian Bale as Dave, an astronaut who becomes a ninja slave to the redheads.

Rupert Grint as Marcus, a redhead who is the fiance of Mary.

Jessica Chastain as Mary, a psychologist who protects Dave.

Renée Zellweger as Trixie, a primitive ninja whom Dave befriends.

Danny Bonaduce as Dr. Mollett, a medical supervisor who wants to silence Dave as much as possible.