Pilot Pyrx's Inquest

Corporate interests want to replace human space crews with lifelike robots (“finite non-linears”), arguing that it will be cheaper and safer than sending humans into space. But steely Commander Pirx (Sergei Desnitsky) is having none of it: he knows this isn’t about safety or cost effectiveness, but rather about lining the pockets of big business. Determined to prove the superiority of humanity, he agrees to pilot a test flight commanding a crew made up of both humans and nonlinears, without knowing which is which — but when disaster strikes, to which does the finger point? Adapted from the story by Stanislaw Lem (Solaris) by director Marek Piestrak, a former assistant to Roman Polanski on Rosemary’s Baby, Test Pilot Pirxa is a gripping space adventure with a strong undercurrent of social criticism, and a premise that intriguingly anticipates Blade Runner. —TIFF Bell Lightbox