Dune Drifter

Dune Drifter is a 2020 British science fiction action thriller film written and directed by Marc Price and produced by Michelle Parkyn, starring Phoebe Sparrow, Daisy Aitkens, Simon Dwyer Thomas, Alastair Kirton, Richard Corgan, and Michael Geary with Noel Darcy (director of photography), Nicky Evans (production designer), and Adam Langston (music composer).

Plot
The human race, now based at Terra Prime, are at war with an alien race called the Drekks, who have already devastated cities on Earth, such as New York City, Istanbul, and Quebec City. Adler (Phoebe Sparrow) is Grey 6 gunner, flying in hyperspace with pilot Yaren (Daisy Aitkens), as part of Dune Squadron, Reserve Gemini Unit, a squadron of seven Terra Prime space fighters. They receive a video briefing from Colonel Danforth (Alastair Kirton) of the starship Valiant, directing them to rendezvous with them at the planet Erebus, where he assumes that Terra Prime forces will have repelled Drekk ships. But upon leaving hyperspace, Dune Squadron see the Valiant under heavy attack by Drekk ships. Colonel Danforth directs the squadron to attack six Drekk ships, warning them that the Drekk shields have been configured to resist plasma blasts. Grey leader, Callaghan (Charlotte Mounter), leads an attack on the six Drekk ships, where their plasma blasts have little or no effect on the Drekk shields. With difficulty, the squadron manages to destroy one Drekk ship, but this leads to most of the squadron being destroyed by the Drekks, except for Adler's ship, which is damaged by an exploding ship, and crash lands on the planet Erebus. On Erebus, with a corrosive, unbreathable atmosphere, Adler, wearing her flight suit and helmet, moves the injured Yaren to an emergency inflatable life raft with an atmosphere inside. Back at the ship, Adler needs the start-up code to activate communications, but Yaren gives her a code which does not work: 16305. Adler manages to use 1234 as the start-up code. But they are out of communications range from Terra Prime ships. At night, Adler hears another ship crash-land on Erebus, and on her ship's radio, discovers that it is a Drekk ship. Yaren dies in the morning. On the second night, a creature attacks the life raft, deflating it, so Adler escapes into the ship where she manages to shoot the creature dead with plasma blasts. Adler picks up communications from the Valiant which orders the Terra Prime ships to retreat, leaving Adler alone on Erebus. The next morning, Adler walks to where the Drekk ship crash landed, as her ship needs a replacement plasma injector coil. This leads to a confrontation with a Drekk warrior, who is able to resist being shot at by her plasma pistol, and ends with Adler killing the Drekk with a knife. Adler finds the Drekk ship, and attacks the two Drekks guarding it, with her plasma pistol and a fuel grenade. Adler manages to grab a Drekk rifle, which she uses to shoot dead one Drekk, and almost destroy the Drekk ship. From the ship, she extracts the plasma injector coil that she needs for her ship. Meanwhile, the last Drekk warrior, obtains a rifle and shoots at a departing Adler, damaging the rifle she had. At a geyser field, Adler is attacked by the Drekk who has caught up with her, and she falls into a cave where her helmet is damaged. The Drekk picks up the plasma injector coil with the aim of taking Adler's ship. Adler crawls back to her ship ahead of the Drekk, where she replaces her damaged helmet with Yaren's helmet. When the Drekk arrives at her ship, Adler attacks the Drekk with plasma blasts from the ship, as well as with a rock in her hand, and she eventually kills the Drekk with their rifle. With the Drekk rifle stowed aboard, Adler installs the plasma injector coil into her ship and flies it out of Erebus. She remembers to use the code that Yaren had given to her, 16305, which happens to be the navigation pre-set code to set course for the ship to fly via hyperspace back to Terra Prime.

Cast

 * Phoebe Sparrow as Adler (Grey 6 gunner)
 * Daisy Aitkens as Yaren (Grey 6 pilot)
 * Simon Dwyer Thomas as Drekk warrior
 * Alastair Kirton as Colonel Danforth
 * Richard Corgan as Kanner
 * Michael Geary as Kinnear
 * Marcus Shakesheff as Meyln
 * Charlotte Mounter as Callaghan (Grey leader)
 * Alexander Tol as Farleigh
 * Jen Nelson as Hawthorn
 * James Groom as Hordern
 * Tom Nolan as Ackland
 * Linda Louise Duan as Sousie
 * Michael Lagin as Ferrier
 * Asher Green as Richardson
 * Claire Burley as Collins
 * Dara Cravens - Suit Vocals
 * Martyn Luke - Erebus Pilot

Production
The space fighter and battle scenes were filmed in London, during COVID-19 restrictions, where actors performed in a mock-up of the space fighter cockpit, in a flat. The outdoor Erebus scenes were filmed in Iceland.

Home media
Dune Drifter was released on DVD, on 1 December 2020, with a running time of 95 minutes, and included the Producer's Cut of the film. The DVD also had a behind-the-scenes featurette where Marc Price said his film-making was inspired by the science fiction films of Roger Corman. The film was also streamed during the virtual Arrow Video Frightfest film event in October 2020, and featured during the Leeds International Film Festival in 2021

Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes scored Dune Drifter 100%, with positive reviews. The film attracted a positive review from Jennie Kermode on Eye for Film, who said "Dune Drifter is an object lesson for all low budget filmmakers. The plot may be simple, the effects work in the opening section may look a bit rough, but the acting is superb and director Marc Price creates a powerful atmosphere. The result punches well above its weight." She also praised Phoebe Sparrow’s performance as Adler: “Sparrow's work is gripping, even though she has to do most of her acting through a visor. We really feel her despair and understand the desperate nature of her situation. Distressing though this is, Adler's determination to keep on fighting for the slenderest of chances makes it impossible not to root for her, and even though familiar genre conveniences are present - from humanoid aliens to guns that miss at all the right times - she makes it easy to suspend disbelief.” Eric Mortensen on Geeky Hobbies welcomed Dune Drifter in 2020, saying that "Dune Drifter has a decent amount of action sequences, but they are spaced out. The movie has a much greater emphasis on the main character just surviving. This means that character development plays a big role in the movie. I think this is one of the film’s greatest strengths. While most of the movie features only one character, I thought the character development was good. The plot is compelling and is well written in my opinion. The movie does a good job telling an interesting story about trying to survive on an alien planet." Following Frightfest in 2020, Dune Drifter was reviewed by Kim Newman, who said Marc Price had delivered an ambitious science fiction film, featuring a simple, gritty story with few frills, and a nice sense of widescreen spectacle.

For Exit 6 Film Festival, Marc Price was interviewed in 2021, about his work, and Dune Drifter was praised for boasting some great miniature and in-camera visual effects for a film with a modest budget. Reviews made comparisons between Dune Drifter, and Enemy Mine, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Wars. Film Authority said that “A week’s shoot in Iceland gives Dune Drifter the look it needs for the alien planet, without having to hit the same green-screen switch that most films hit all too readily. But it’s the space-action that’s more impressive, by dint of practical choices; those who dug the dirty space look of 70’s classics like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica should apply here. Although filmed in a UK living room, the results look dynamic enough to keep the attention, and make Dune Drifter a cut above the average.”

Starburst magazine said “Punching way above its weight, Dune Drifter does a great job of transporting us to a different world. The first third – set during an epic space battle is fabulously claustrophobic and tense. The CGI is more than adequate and has a Star Wars/Battlestar Gallactica [sic] (the original one) feel. Once on the planet, it’s a fight for survival of a different kind. The introduction of the foe doesn’t lead to a recreation of Enemy Mine, fortunately as there are a number of well-choreographed fights and added trauma.”

In 2022, two years after the film was released, Dune Drifter was reviewed by Jim McLennan on Girls with Guns, who commented on “an admirable effort in terms of its budget”, and he also said that Phoebe Sparrow “portrays the heroine with a no-nonsense approach, prepared to do whatever is necessary to survive”.