Crater is the latest Disney+ Original Movie and, recently, in a very disappointing announcement concerning that they are going to remove material from their platform. During a recent earnings call for Disney, CFO Christine McCarthy revealed that the company is in the process of removing certain material from their streaming service and will write down some such projects by removing them from Disney+, similar to Warner Bros. Discovery. The aim is now to make fewer projects while also cutting down on others which do not appear to grow subscribers count.
Crater is a fabulous film. Nonetheless, it feels like an ideal Disney flick even if it was initially developed at 20th Century Fox before being sold together with the studio. It’s an original concept focused mainly on kids and families; this high-concept pitch takes us back to the early days of Walt Disney’s live-action films. However, it’s one of those films that will likely be written off or not considered valuable by the company in future since it does not drive up subscriptions hence deemed unworthy of attention as such official expenses. Still, Crater has so much value beyond quantification.
Crater occurs on a lunar colony in 2257 where people work mining precious resources so that humanity can travel to Omega, another planet which would be settled by humans anew when such fuel runs out. The story follows Caleb (Isaiah Russell-Bailey), a little boy who suffers after his father dies while working there since according to their agreement any worker who died in mine would have his family taken him home to this new world.
Before he got permanently located somewhere else on another planet though, his three friends Dylan (Billy Barratt), Borney (Orson Hong) and Marcus (Thomas Boyce) alongside Addison (McKenna Grace), who was transferred to this colony not long ago decided instead of just stealing lunar rover down into Caleb’s mother & father favourite crater beside which they used to visit together. This will be a test of the children’s emotional strength and growth, they become masters of their own destinies. Beneath the trappings of all sci-fi stuff Crater is about growing up, it’s about a group of friends who have to come face to face with the stark realization that one of them is going to move away for good and they should enjoy one final night together.
Crater has been directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez who is best known for character-centric dramas like Easier with Practice and The Stanford Prison Experiment. Although he may seem like an odd choice for a family film, he brings to this project the level of emotional maturity that it needs. He can get across how much fun these kids are having on their journey while keeping quiet moments wherein characters just talk as they think on what lies ahead in their lives and inevitable death.
The film also features a cast of powerful young stars. There are few adults in this ensemble, merely a handful of speaking roles, and the focus is completely on the central children with much of the film being carried by them. For years McKenna Grace has been a rising star who shows why she is one of Hollywood’s best young actors. Russell-Bailey, Barratt, Hong, and Boyce not only hold their own but shine as performers who need to convey both carefree children and kids who have experienced adult concerns before their time. A talented cast that moviegoers will hopefully see in films for years.
Crater’s elevator pitch is Stand By Me meets Ad Astra. The producer of the movie Shawn Levy tries to make films like E.T., The Goonies, and Batteries Not Included that would be made today under Amblin Entertainment during his career. His movies like Real Steal and The Adam Project or even produced ones such as Love and Monsters and Stranger Things have an “80s Amblin” feel to them but are updated for modern audiences.
However, while Stranger Things and The Adam Project are very keenly trying to reference those films so as to appeal more to grownups who actually were raised with them; hence Crater seems more authentic because it is aimed squarely at kids which makes it truer to those 80’s style kids’ flicks.
What makes Crater truly fascinating though is that it is indeed a Gen Z movie which seems very disturbingly speak to things they worry about most. There can be observed some references about class in Crater since apparently if you work on Luna for 20 years you should be able to transition to Omega according its implied meaning. However breaking any part of this strict contract including missing work even once due illness results in adding up more years in service. So if someone missed out on one day or fell sick or stopped working altogether then the service years can be caught by his/her children and grandchildren. Therefore, in Crater, the kids are starting life on time served off by their parents before they ever even got started and it sort of becomes like something out of which they can never escape.
This brings to mind the idea of debt and notions of generational traumas, fears, anxieties that many kids today face as they have been born into a world of constant global conflicts, recessions and even spent a good part of their adolescence inside due to a global pandemic. They quickly grew up as social media made them more aware about injustice in the world. In fact Crater is for kids not as much for folks who were trying to remind their children that some day in the past they were just like them. Crater instead requests older viewers to participate in what should be another person’s point of view for once.
Disney celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, and it has been marked by much rejoicing on the company’s past. What draws attention are the animated classics that served as Disney’s backbone over years, or recent entries like from subsidiaries like Marvel and Pixar, thus Star Wars franchise, or even famous live-action movies such as Mary Poppins or Pirates of the Caribbean. However, Disney seems to neglect little films that also helped form brand identity.
Disney is a company that has always evolved and changed its business model too. They still wanted to make small-to-medium budget family movies for cinemas. And Disney Channel Original Movies provided an alternative vehicle for them to do same silly kid stuff they were doing in 50’s and 60’s. The original films on Disney+ seemed like mid-budget films that didn’t have theatrical releases anymore but had more sheen than what the studio was investing in a Disney Channel Movie. That need for material gave Crater a home.
Nowadays, Disney only focuses on blockbuster events; Peter Pan & Wendy (remake) or Disenchanted (long-awaited sequel), might be too risky even for screenings under these circumstances. Their summer slate includes blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, Elemental, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Less than ten years ago, Disney was still putting out mid-budget movies into movie theaters. For instance in 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy came out at about same time as Million Dollar Arm and Alexander and Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day did yet whereas those two would now go straight to streaming service Crater could be made by studio system.
Crater is a film by Walt Disney Company which it sadly doesn’t believe would sell theatrically anymore; however there was once a time where people had something like streaming to invest in it so you couldn’t say audiences weren’t grateful or relieved then either. But now the days seem to be numbered. To get greenlit, it has to be a big franchise. It’s never gonna be a Marvel film or Star Wars project that struggles to get made at Disney; actually it’s going to be something like Crater.
Although Disney might have viewed it exclusively as streaming content, one could see how much effort put by the creatives both in front and behind the camera into making Crater a movie they would want to watch. This was not created as disposable content. They came together to make a film that is entertaining, educational and inspirational, which they did. It doesn’t have to lead every new step in cinema development because some movies are just there. And if someone got touched by it, then all this mattered. You can never know who will come across such kind of film and what impact that might have on him/her. If you want something relaxing for an afternoon with your family this summer, then you should look for Crater because it is not part of the big stream where everything gets lost among other things.
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