Tonight on Netflix: Matt Damon’s Audacious Sci-Fi Film, One of the Boldest in 15 Years!

Following his debut with District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s second feature film, Elysium, further established him as a prodigious talent in the realm of science fiction. This time, he transports us to the year 2154.

Dedicated Science Fiction

There are two classes of people: the extremely wealthy, who reside on a perfect man-made space station called Elysium, and everyone else, who lives on an overcrowded and devastated Earth. The Earth’s inhabitants are desperately trying to escape the rampant crime and poverty.

Max, an ordinary man for whom reaching Elysium is more than essential, is the only one with a chance to bridge the gap between these two worlds. As his life hangs by a thread, he contemplates taking on the most dangerous mission of rising against Secretary Delacourt and her armed forces; if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life but also the lives of millions on Earth.

Immediately after finishing District 9 in 2009, Neill Blomkamp began brainstorming his second film. He was already contemplating a class struggle through the lens of science fiction. However, it was only months later, while viewing a drawing by Syd Mead (an American designer who worked on Aliens, Tron, and Blade Runner), depicting a space station (a Stanford Torus), that he had his epiphany and started writing the script for Elysium.

For Jodie Foster, who plays the antagonist Rhodes, the themes in Elysium resonate with the current world. Blomkamp’s film carries a political subtext, addressing the disparities between the haves and the have-nots (as he did with District 9).

The actress points out that “this gap is widening more and more each year and has widened more in 20 years than in 500 years”, adding that Elysium is also “a film about the environment and how we treat our planet.”

A Strenuous Role for Matt Damon

Meanwhile, Matt Damon is no stranger to physical roles, having starred in the Jason Bourne series. However, he admits that Elysium was the most challenging shoot of his career, especially the two weeks spent in a public landfill in Mexico. The dust kicked up there was partly composed of fecal matter.

Insurers and unions even demanded a toxicological report, questioning whether such work conditions were endangering the film crew. Nonetheless, these concerns did not stop Neill Blomkamp from filming his scenes, and he continues to express gratitude to Matt Damon for his dedication.

Upon its release in 2013, Elysium achieved a respectable success, grossing approximately $286 million worldwide on a budget of $120 million. The profits, however, were notably lower than those of District 9, which had brought in $211 million on an estimated production cost of $30 million. In France, the film drew in 1.5 million viewers, slightly more than the 1.1 million who saw District 9.