The latest in our series of writers drawing attention to lesser-known films available to stream is a recommendation of an unusual sci-fi western
Could there be gold in them streaming hills? Scrolling through your preferred film service in search of something new but also good can make you feel like a crotchety wild west varmint panning through dreck in search of hidden treasure. It’s pleasing, then, that the sci-fi mining tale Prospect – a modest but gorgeously realised story of survival on a far-flung frontier – is a streaming gem where the characters are driven by the pursuit of gleaming gems.
On a remote alien forest
moon where the mote-filled atmosphere is so hazardous it requires pressure suits and air filters to navigate, a stressed single father (Jay Duplass) drags his young daughter Cee (Sophie Thatcher) out on a high-risk prospecting expedition. After a hard landing in their cramped space-pod, the pair have a limited window to sniff out valuable organic gems. After three “cycles”, the interstellar gantry that dropped them off will be headed home. If they miss their lift they will be stranded in this lush wilderness with only a musket-like dart gun for protection.