High Life

High Life is currently streaming in the US on Kanopy and Hoopla, and it earns its premise rather than just borrowing genre trappings. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. With 1,237 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Robert Pattinson anchors it with a performance that grounds the bigger ideas in something human. Available now on Kanopy — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

There is a reason High Life keeps coming up in conversation. What makes High Life work is that the ideas never crowd out the people having them. Monte and his daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to deep space. The crew—death-row inmates led by a doctor with sinister motives—has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole. Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2018. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details early on that only make sense later. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

For late-night viewing or a proper weekend binge, High Life fits the bill. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Robert Pattinson anchors it with a performance that makes the more abstract moments feel personal. If you have been burned by ambitious sci-fi before, this is the exception.