Those of you worried that Cargo will turn out to be just another Alien clone are going to be happy by the end of this review. Because, despite what the marketing for the film may have us believe, Cargo is not the typical space-station horror you might be expecting. It is a much grander work than that, blending classic scifi ideas about the destiny of humanity with massive visual scope and confident direction from first-time feature directors Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter. In short, Switzerland has not only produced its first large scale science fiction film, but one that showcases enough smarts and skill that it ranks among scifi cinema's best.

In all honestly I was completely taken aback when the first act of Cargo started to play. I knew Engler's budget was a mere fraction of what Neil Blompkamp had for District 9 and even less than Duncan Jones had for Moon, so where were all these massive Blade Runner by way of anime shots coming from? I expected the film to be peppered with the odd establishing shot here and there to give the illusion of scope beyond the frame, but in Cargo epic shots keep coming and coming and coming. And just when you think the film can't get any bigger, Engler and Etter set their entire 15 minute climax in space, outside a HUGE space station. And the VFX shots are truly staggering, competing with anything coming out of Hollywood. You can see the production crew's sleepless nights up on the screen and it is this kind of sheer ambition that makes Cargo such a rewarding viewing experience.