Rakka (film)
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (January 2018) |
| Rakka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Neill Blomkamp |
| Written by | Neill Blomkamp Tom Sweterlitsch |
| Starring | Sigourney Weaver Carly Pope |
| Music by | Lorne Balfe |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 22 minutes |
| Countries | United States Canada |
| Language | English |
Rakka is a 2017 American-Canadian military science fiction short film made by Oats Studios and directed by Neill Blomkamp.[1][2] It was released on YouTube and Steam on 14 June 2017.
Plot[]
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (October 2020) |
Chapter 1: World[]
In the near future, Earth will be attacked by technologically superior and highly aggressive reptilian aliens - the Klum (pronounced "klume"). Humanity is nearing extinction with millions dead or enslaved. The Klum transform the Earth in favor of its living conditions, burning forests, destroying cities, and building megastructures that slowly terraform the Earth, pumping out methane, making it harder and harder to breathe, while flooding cities near the oceans.
The story begins in 2020, from the point of view of a resistance based out of Texas - US Army and others who have banded together. The survivors live mostly in the underground or scattered among ruins, and have just enough provisions, weapons and ammunition to continue fighting, using whatever they can against Klum technology - primarily some kind of nanite omnipresent in all their weaponry, as well as the aliens' trump card, a "hack" of sorts that forces anyone who looks into their eyes under telepathic control.
The resistance has made rudimentary shields, "brain-barriers", that block this "hack", but there are not enough materials for everyone to be protected, and the Klum know this, hoping to win a war of attrition against the survivors.
Whoever is taken prisoner are either used as living incubators for the Klum's young that inevitably painfully kills the victims, dissected, or forcibly converted into "human loudspeakers," urging humans to surrender into so called "conservatories". Very few manage to escape.
After the Klum destroy a militia convoy with an airstrike, one of the surviving soldiers witnesses an angel-like being materialize from thin air. The narration describes ″them″ as mankind's saviours.
Chapter 2: Amir & Nosh[]
Nosh is a tech-savvy pyromaniac and bomb-maker, eking out a living in a scrapyard far from the resistance. The resistance despises Nosh for his murderous glee and demands - giving the sick or suicidal over as bait during his many IED ambushes, but they must give in to his demands in exchange for continued IEDs and the brain-barriers he is able to make.
The resistance stumble across Amir, a mute who has managed to escape from the Klum, bearing extensive cybernetics across his head and shoulders. Amid opposition from her lieutenants, the resistance leader, Jasper, releases Amir from her custody into the care of a resistance fighter named Sarah. Sarah, having lost her daughter to the Klum's experiments, takes a liking to Amir. She looks after him, giving him food and drink, while trying to persuade Amir to help the resistance fight the extraterrestrials using the precognitive abilities he acquired as a result of the aliens' experiments.
Chapter 3: Siege[]
Amir has recovered physically and mentally. He sees - thanks to his implants - a premonition, involving a wounded Klum on the run, pursued by militia forces. Sarah pleads with him to help the militia officers, asking him to help stop the genocide. The more she talks to him, the more his eyes change, seeing the premonition of the impending attack more clearly. Amir, still mute, foresees the militia successfully shooting down an alien aircraft, and the pilot is the alien on the run. Sarah asks Amir if they will be able to learn how to hunt the Klum and teach them how to fear. Unable to answer, he foresees the Klum telekinetically bashing one of the militia soldiers, disconnecting his brain barrier and causing him to be mind-controlled, turning on his comrades, who are forced to kill him. Sarah tells Amir that he now has the abilities the aliens have and that he is to use them for humanity. Back in the vision, the militia surround the Klum; Jasper orders the militia to cut off its head. The film ends as Sarah urges Amir to use his abilities, as he is their last hope.
Cast[]
- Sigourney Weaver as Jasper
- Eugene Khumbanyiwa as Amir
- Robert Hobbs as Carl
- Carly Pope as Sarah
- Brandon Auret as Nosh
- Mike Huff as Policeman
- Owen McCrae as Klum
- Connor Page as Child
- Jay Anstey as A suicide bomber
- Justin Shaw as Man in medical device
- Carla Marais as eight-year-old girl
- Ryan Angilley as Martinez
- Alec Gillis as Militia officer 1
- Ruan Coetzee as Militia officer 2
- Paul Davies as Militia officer 3
- Pieter Jacobz as Militia officer 4
References[]
- ^ Director Neill Blomkamp breaks down his new sci-fi short Rakka
- ^ "Episode (35) Sci-Fi Short Film 'RAKKA' Starring Sigourney Weaver". The Best Indie SFF Short Films & Web Series. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
External links[]
- 2017 films
- English-language films
- 2017 short films
- Alien invasions in films
- Films directed by Neill Blomkamp
- Films scored by Lorne Balfe
- Science fiction short films
- 2017 science fiction films
- American short films
- Canadian short films
- American science fiction films
- American films
- Canadian science fiction films
- Canadian films