Rating: NR | Runtime: 96 minutes
Release Date: October 2nd, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Blue Harbor Entertainment
Director(s): Jaco Bouwer
Writer(s): Anne Vithayathil

It’s whatever you need it to be.

We’ve reached a moment in human existence where we can no longer ignore the reality that we’re little more than commodities being bought and sold. Our educations are structured to teach us how to be better consumers. Our intellect is exploited by its financiers to warp any intrinsic utopian ideals into weapons for consolidating power. Our fears are manipulated to the point where we willingly act against our own best interests while praising our oppressors.

Anne Vithayathil’s script for Orion, as directed by Jaco Bouwer, seeks to bring these truths to the forefront via a dialogue-heavy two-hander pitting a lone survivor battling amnesia (Drew Van Acker’s Apollo) opposite a government agent (Andrew McCarthy’s Jim) trying to discern what happened. What starts as a conversation between allies soon reveals itself as a series of psychological tests proving just how pervasive our ability to lie for personal gain has become.

The mystery of this tragic mission is therefore quickly made secondary to the motivations of these two men. Each new scene brings a revelation that recolors what we thought we knew until we realize what many have in the real world: truth no longer exists. Not as a collection of empirically agreed upon facts like the past. No, the proliferation of social media anonymity and misinformation rewired our brains to react from a baseline of mistrust rather than faith.

Our default mode of being has become so adversarial that we even argue despite holding the exact same opinions simply because we’ve adopted defensiveness as a survival technique. Pair that with the desire to trick people into giving you what you want because it’s easier than proving its benefits (if any exist) and it’s a wonder anything gets done. It isn’t therefore difficult to believe Apollo might be just as disingenuous as Jim. Control, not knowledge, is king.

Language as an indoctrinating vessel is a huge piece of that puzzle. What’s said and what isn’t. How it’s presented and to whom. If the words can or cannot mask intent. It’s why emotion plays a crucial part too. How Van Acker and McCarthy act (it’s great to see the latter in a juicy role) is often more important than what’s said. Because our instinct to spot a lie is all we can trust now. At least until we can start offering a hand in peace again without first securing a knife in the other.

Orion delivers worthwhile commentary on how our technological advancements have helped deteriorate our already waning empathy via a lo-fi, one-set sci-fi conceit that leans into its production design and performances rather than stretch its admirable special effects beyond their means. Some of the heel turns are abrupt, but they’re also universal and thus ensure everyone (altruistic or not) is revealed as a sociopath. That’s a feature not a bug. We’ve all been corrupted.

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Drew Van Acker and Andrew McCarthy in ORION; courtesy of Blue Harbor Entertainment.