Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member of Tantalus Base believes he has made an astounding discovery – fossilized evidence of bacterial life. Unwilling to let the relief crew claim all the glory, he disobeys orders to pack up and goes out on an unauthorized expedition to collect further samples. But a routine excavation turns to disaster when the porous ground collapses and he falls into a deep crevice. His devastated colleagues attempt to recover his body. However, when another vanishes, they start to suspect that the life-form they have discovered is not without danger.
The Last Days on Mars blends sci-fi survival horror with zombie tropes in a way that feels more derivative than inventive — the premise squanders its Mars setting by essentially delivering a standard infection/zombie thriller that could have taken place anywhere. The plot starts promisingly but devolves into familiar genre beats with little payoff. Acting is competent, anchored by Liev Schreiber, keeping things watchable even as the script lets the cast down. Cinematography captures a decent Martian atmosphere with dusty, desolate visuals, though the budget limitations show. The ending is unsatisfying and abrupt, failing to deliver meaningful resolution or emotional weight. Novelty is low because the zombie-on-Mars concept, while intriguing on paper, is executed in a thoroughly by-the-numbers fashion that echoes countless other infected-crew thrillers.