Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence's Poorly Reviewed Space Movie Rescued With High Expert Score Due to Various Scientific Accuracies

Retired NASA astronaut Nicole Stott weighs in on the science in Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence's 2016 film Passengers. Despite Pratt and Lawrence's many successful films, Passengers received mostly negative reviews, including a dismal 30% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. The sci-fi novel finds passenger Jim Preston (Pratt) awakening 90 years too early on a 120-year space journey. Jim finally wakes up another passenger, Aurora Lane (Lawrence)because he sees that she is beautiful and doesn't want to be alone, and leads her to believe that she was woken up by accident.

In a Insider video, Stott explains how the science in the scene where Aurora wakes up is quite accurate. The scene shows Aurora swimming in a giant ball of water that begins to float before suddenly falling to the floor of the spacecraft. Stott looks at what happens to water and other fluids when there's microgravity or no gravity, how that lines up with his experiences in space, and how that translates into the scene in Passengers. Check out her comments and video below:

Water and all fluids in this microgravity environment, or where there is no gravity, will form a ball. Surface tension causes this to happen. You know, when we shower on the space station, we don't have running water, right? There is no gravity to pull the water down like in a shower like the one we have here on Earth. So we squeeze balls of water out of a drink bag, from the straw at the end of a drink bag, and we squeeze these balls of hot water into the air. And then you could just stick your arm in that ball of water, and it will form like a glove of water on your arm, and then you spread the soap around and then put your arm in another big ball of water to rinse and wipe it dry. with your towel.

You could absolutely swim in the water. Contrary to what you see, people sometimes think they could swim in the air, you know, inside their spaceship. That won't do you any good. There is no resistance against it. But the water offers some resistance.

It seems very abrupt. And the same thing would happen in reality. You'd get a slow start of charge on the thing, but going from zero to any charge will cause a very abrupt change in whatever was floating at the time.

I would give this scene a seven because I like the way they really tried to portray the reality of how liquids behave in a microgravity environment.

What does this mean for passengers

The scientific precision in this scene is an underrated strength in the controversial film

Passengers has been criticized for the sexism inherent in its premise. The controversial ending of Passengers further compounds these criticisms when Aurora chooses to live out the rest of her life with Jim rather than return to hibernation, with the film never reconciling her issues of consent or fully exploring the morality of Jim's actions. Stott's scientific analysis of what happens to the water in the scene where Aurora is awakened does not negate these criticisms.but his comments highlight one of the film's underappreciated strengths.

The way water is visually represented in the scene is impressive, and the cinematography can be appreciated even more by knowing that this is what actually happens to water and other liquids in a microgravity environment. Even the part where the water suddenly falls to the floor, which seems to have been included purely for dramatic effect, is rooted in reality. The reasons why Aurora is being woken up are still problematic, but the scientific and visual elements of the scene are well executed.

His analysis provides a new and fascinating perspective

Although Passengers is still among Pratt and Lawrence's worst films, the Stott's explanation makes me appreciate this scene in a way I've never considered before. It's an important reminder that almost every film has something worthwhile to offer, even if the themes, plot, and character development are disappointing. Better understanding what happens to water and other fluids in microgravity environments is also fascinating. PassengersThe overall legacy remains the same, but this scene has its scientific merits.

Source: Insider