Colony
2016
Original language: English
- sci-fi & fantasy
- drama
The story
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has been occupied by a force of outside intruders. While some people have chosen to collaborate with the authorities and benefit from the new order, others have rebelled — and suffer the consequences.
What it’s like
Grey, washed-out daylight over a walled-off Los Angeles, with wide, sun-bleached street shots that feel emptied of colour and a handheld unease that tightens when soldiers enter a frame. The palette runs on cool blues, dust, and fluorescent-lit interiors, while the sci-fi hardware sits quietly in the background rather than dominating the image. Sound leans on a low, pulsing synth score and the hum of checkpoints, with long stretches of ambient city noise broken by sudden, hard silences. The vibe is tense, watchful, and quietly paranoid, the sort of sun-bleached unease that suits a late evening alone or a long weekend binge where you want to be pulled in gradually. Pacing is steady and serialized, with tension built through conversations and small compromises more than action set pieces. Violence is present and can be sudden and harsh, including executions and brutal beatings, though it is not constant and gore is limited; expect fear and cruelty more than spectacle. The emotional core is a family slowly fracturing and reforming under pressure, with characters forced to choose between loyalty, survival, and complicity. It is for viewers who enjoy resistance dramas and moral grey areas, and less suited to anyone seeking something gentle.
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