Infini

Plot

In the early 23rd century, an emergency is declared on a mining station O.I. Infini, and a search and rescue (SAR) team is sent in using Slipstream, a form of teleportation that allows near instantaneous travel. The location of O.I. Infini is proximal to a number of black holes meaning the mission operatives will experience severe time dilation. A team sent returns 30 seconds later in a berserk rage. Whit Carmichael, a new member of West Coast SAR, on his first day, teleports to Infini using an illegal teleporter after West Coast HQ activates a lethal lock down to contain the crisis. Before leaving for work that day, his wife tells him to do whatever it takes to return safely.

Less than a relative hour later, East Coast SAR is informed about the outbreak and the destruction of the West Coast SAR. They are informed a payload of something from the station has been programed by a deranged survivor, to teleport soon to Earth, which will destroy the planet. The SAR is ordered to halt the payload, and recover the one surviving member of the West Coast SAR, Whit. Arriving, they find a frozen slaughterhouse, eventually reuniting with Whit, who has had a week to figure out how the station operates. Whit explains that the mining staff slaughtered each other, tearing off their skin and killing one another. Whit is able to shut down the payload, but then the deranged survivor suddenly attacks, and when he is shot, everyone is sprayed with the survivor's blood. They begin to become enraged and violent. Whit hides from the others, then searches the station for remaining SAR personnel and anything he can learn about the infection. Finding a lab, he discovers a medical log. Discovering the planet is entirely composed of alien organic material, and when thawed forms a so-called "primordial ooze". It is capable of infecting, eventually mimicking and finally dominating, any biological tissue. He further discovers the ooze is aggressive, predatory in nature, and driven by self-preservation.

Suffering mentally from infection, Whit attempts to solicit help from the remaining members of the team, but they are suffering through advanced stages of the infection, which he is resisting better. They either attack each other, kill themselves, or attack Whit. This leaves Whit the last surviving human on the station. He records a message to the ooze which plays on a loop over the loudspeakers, criticizing it for harnessing only the violent instincts of humanity, instead of working with humans. He tells it that it failed. He then commits suicide. The ooze moves onto the bodies, and they awaken unharmed and no longer crazed, but clearly disturbed by what has happened. They agree to teleport back, and keep their story simple. As they begin to teleportation, Whit sees several humanoid forms made of ooze, silently watching them go, one of them holding the picture of Whit's wife he carried with him.

Returning to Earth, the team is scanned, and asked if they are free from biological contaminants. They answer in the affirmative, and the scan successfully identifies them all. Whit returns home to his wife, who had been told he was not coming back.

Cast

Production

Shooting began in Sydney in October 2013.

Release

Infini had its international premiere on 11 April 2015 at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. It was released simultaneously in the US and Australia. The film was not released theatrically in Australia, due to fears of piracy.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 36% of fourteen surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.9/10. Dov Kornits of Filmink wrote, "Infini is leading the charge in genre filmmaking in this country, proving that we have the chops to compete on the world stage." Commenting on the film's similarity to Aliens, David Stratton of The Australian wrote, "Resourcefulness is all very well, but a fresh approach to the familiar cliches would also be appreciated." Harry Windsor of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a genre retread in search of a plot". Andrew Marshall of Starburst rated it 6/10 stars and wrote that the film "lacks the follow through to capitalise on its ideas or required sense of humanity to make you actually care". Simon Abrams of The Village Voice wrote, "Infini doesn't go anywhere that superior science fiction films haven't already, but for a while, it's exciting enough to feel brand-new." Oliver Pfeiffer of SciFiNow rated it 4/5 stars and called it "bold, gut-wrenching" with the "real masterstroke at play...the menacingly immersive production design and deeply atmospheric soundtrack".

Christopher Webster of Quiet Earth wrote that it "feels like an R-rated Twilight Zone episode more than a feature film".