Netflix’s Cargo Review: An Original and Rare Indian Attempt at Sci-Fi

Netflix film Cargo follows a young astronaut who, after coming aboard a mysterious spaceship, forms an unlikely bond with the reclusive astronaut on board. As she struggles to come to terms with the different “cargos” that come onboard over the course of her stay, things start to change her and the connection she has with her colleague.

Cargo premiered in the MAMI Film Festival under the spotlight section in 2019 and has a runtime of 113 minutes.

Cargo Review: Post Death Transition Services

Since childhood, we are taught that your lifelong karma decides your destination after death i.e., Heaven or Hell. But, what if, when you die you land in Pushpak 634-A, a huge spaceship where all your belongings (the ones you had with yourself at the time of death) are discarded, your memory is erased and you are healed and prepared for reincarnations. And surprisingly, the people attending you are demon agents aka alive people, humans.

As different, fresh, and absurd as this concept may sound to you, Cargo, brings this on-screen with utmost simplicity and perfection! Arati Kadav, at the very start of her career, has played with a genre Bollywood is still kind of new to – Sci-fi.

The film has a theme of monotony to it. Prahastha (Vikrant Massey), leads a monotonous and lonely life on the ship for almost a decade and this monotony becomes a part of his being. Over the years he has seen met and cured so many dead people but doesn’t connect/engage with them. An integral part of him is now is the monotony that he can’t let go of that easily, till the time a juxtaposition to his personality Yuvishka Shekhar (Shweta Tripathi), a lively girl, joins him on the ship as her assistant.

As the story progresses, we see Prahastha’s desperation to not let go of her only human companion Yuvishka, to not lose his humanitarian base once again. Through Yuvishka’s character and the sensitivity it holds towards life, death, and people, Kadav delves into some of the questions we all ask about the purpose of life, especially on days like these where a virus has brought our lives to the edge – existential crisis became the new normal.

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Another message Cargo subtly brings forth is that nothing is permanent. We are humans – we live, we die, we heal and we try, all over again, in a new place as a new person. How many times have we heard that humans are a form of energy and, as it can neither be created nor be destroyed, it just transforms into various shapes and forms? And we see that here along with many other themes.

Stream It or Skip It?

Cargo is one of those movies where you won’t only see a decent and praiseworthy attempt at the genre, but also in times of crisis, the movie can serve as a ray of hope that nothing is lost forever but at the same time, nothing is permanent.
The cast plays a brilliant role, though the prominent share of the story remains with Massey and Tripathi, other characters are also important in their own ways!

Also, did I mention they all have a special power of their own? No? I urge you all to see this movie and know it for yourself.

Cargo is now streaming on Netflix.

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