October 9, 2023 · Watch the trailer
Why is it that it feels as if the most originality and creativity in filmmaking these days always seems to come from the science fiction genre?
Perhaps it’s due to the ability to be anything or go in any direction cinematically from a storytelling and character development perspective. There’s just an intense freedom in the unknown, the unforeseen, the unimaginable becoming possible with true authentic escapism.
Every year it seems that a new science fiction epic hits theaters in the final part of the year that does not perform as well as the box office as it probably should given how innovative and unique the filmmaking is and support for more creativity in cinema will help bring studios out of the stagnation of intellectual property driven doldrums audiences have faced for the better part of a decade now.
This year’s entry into the original sci-fi category comes from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” director Gareth Edwards, whose arresting, slow-simmering drama “The Creator” doesn’t quite have the same dramatic highs that James Gray’s “Ad Astra” did in 2019 but engages the mind in unique and interesting ways.
“The Creator” follows Joshua, a retired Special Forces operative pulled back into duty in a postmodern world where artificial intelligence is at war with humanity and caught in the crosshairs is Joshua’s believed to be dead wife Maya, the mother of his unborn child.
At the center of the film, “Tenet” and “BlacKKKlansman” star John David Washington has a brooding persona that really works for Joshua and it’s clear throughout that Washington is singularly focused on the why the motivation of his character rather than the action-forward how that many actors would lean on both physically and emotionally in their performance.
Much like his father Denzel, the younger Washington delivers a layered turn that maximizes both a warm charming smile but also more serious, cold eyes when needed to truly emphasize each moment and the individuality of the emotions within.
The evolution of Joshua’s bond with Maya and a young girl he counters named Alphie really go beyond what a film like “The Creator” should have from a sci-fi narrative, but Washington treats the genre like traditional drama in every scene which accentuates the depth beyond a surface level that most major studios might strive for.
Gemma Chan haunts the background of “The Creator” with a terrific supporting turn as Maya and the way that audiences understand her character through fragments of Joshua’s memory is simply perfect storytelling from Edwards.
Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles is perfectly cast as young Alphie and while her relative naivety about the world around her might be problematic for most first time actors, Voyles’ soft delivery and innocence shine throughout and help Washington to build the depths of Joshua’s character from an emotional perspective.
“The Creator” is one of the most visually artistic and engaging films of 2023 with a dynamic energy that really shines in its cinematography especially in the brighter moments while the film’s blacks prove to be almost too much at times.
Cinematographers Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer do a great job in camera placement and lighting to accentuate a wide color scheme that makes each area Joshua travels feel unique and independent from one another and there is a deeper artistry to the visuals of “The Creator” in its cinematography and production design that make the world of the film feel much richer than it actually is.
While it won’t be heralded as an awards season contender or even one of the year’s best films, “The Creator” certainly is one of the most original, interesting and introspective movies of 2023 and well worth the price of admission for a film that desperately needs to be a bigger box office draw in order to keep studios making these kinds of truly original works of art.
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