Beyond the Aquila Rift is the seventh episode in Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots series. The short film is directed by Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra & Maxime Luére, with animation by Unit Image.
Beyond the Aquila Rift is set in the future as a ship is about to make a long jump from Earth to a far away location. The crew enters their sleep pods while a system called Arkangel puts them on their course. Something goes wrong though as the crew’s captain wakes up to fin out they haven’t arrived at their location but instead one that is very far from home.
The animation for this short is on an epic scale, I could easily watch a whole film with this animation. I might cringe a little at some of the facial expressions but that just makes me feel more valuable as a
The story, although probably a little predicatble in parts is great with some character building and decisions. These decisions really add up in the film’s favour as to fit in enough beats for just a sixteen minute short film is an impressive feat. Beyond the Aquila Rift does in one short film what some films take ninety minutes too do and it’s a great example of how to do sci-fi right.