This article contains spoilers for “The Last of Us.”
“The Last of Us” will be returning for season 3 on HBO, but Pedro Pascal’s Joel will not return barring any further flashbacks.
The vengeful Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) murders Joel in “The Last of Us” season 2’s second episode. He definitely won’t be forgotten — Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is now out for revenge herself, and the show’s fans are similarly mourning. But if you’re still hungry for a science-fiction story about Pedro Pascal partnered up with a young child, you have other options. And no, I don’t mean “The Mandalorian.”
The 2018 science-fiction film “Prospect” stars Pascal as Ezra, a loquacious and morally dubious miner on a frontier world. Directed by Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell (and self-adapted from their 2014 proof of concept short film, also titled “Prospect”), the star of “Prospect” is a teenage girl named Cee (Sophie Thatcher). Cee and her prospector father Damon (Jay Duplass) land on a forested moon, “The Green,” to mine for valuable gems.
The planet technically has a breathable atmosphere, but the forest is filled with toxic spores, so everyone needs to wear space suits. (Unlike “The Last of Us” fungus, these spores at least don’t create zombies.) Ezra, who first appears about 30 minutes in, is a rival prospector who kills Damon after the latter tries to rob him. But when Cee’s ship shorts out, she and Ezra have to put aside the grudge between them to get off the planet alive.
“Prospect,” which got a rave review out of SXSW 2018 from /Film, was made for a budget reportedly under $4 million. Earl & Caldwell work within their limitations — and know where to pull inspiration from. The “sci-fi” parts of the art design, from the spacesuit costumes to the ships’ interiors and exteriors, suggest “Alien” was an influence.
There’s very little blunt exposition in the movie, too. Is this story set in the far future or an entirely alternate universe? Your guess is as good as mine. Though not nearly as ambitious or out-there, “Prospect” reminded me of the original “Star Wars” in this way; the dialogue will refer to places and events without explaining them, creating a more immersive world.
Pascal is the right mix of charming and sinister as Ezra. It doesn’t ring false when he takes a shine to Cee, because he never feels like a vicious man, just one doing what he needs to survive. But while Pascal brings the calm of an experienced actor to the movie, “Prospect” is remembered more for the talent it revealed to the world.