Last Days on Eirus (2024)

Last Days on Eirus
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robin Bantoa
Screenplay by	Tacito do Rosário
Produced by	Balbino Nascimento
Starring	Ian Sequeira Dário Cavaco Nicole Abreu Harrison Carter Marcelo Leite Jace Arbour Erica Krier Frida Ehlers
Cinematography	Elias Saldanha
Edited by	Renato Vasconcelos
Music by	Quim Saldanha
Release dates	20 August 2024 (2024-08-20)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Quetana
Budget	10.6 million

Last Days on Eirus is a 2024 Quetanan science fiction horror film directed by Robin Bantoa with a screenplay by Tacito do Rosário. It stars an ensemble cast of Ian Sequeira, Dário Cavaco, Nicole Abreu, Harrison Carter, Marcelo Leite, Jace Arbour, Erica Krier, and Frida Ehlers. The movie was an international co-production between Quetana, Zamastan, and New Anea.

Plot

In the 2040s, a Eirus research base, Alpha Base outpost, is established. The eight-person crew, which has been stationed there for six months, is only nineteen hours from the completion of their research mission. The spacecraft Aurora is inbound from Earth and will collect the team by lander.

Eirus scientist Christov Danilovich has found samples that point to life on the planet. Without revealing his discovery, he devises a ruse for a last EVA on the surface. Crewmate Tanner Gosling drives Danilovich in a solar-powered rover to the spot where he found the sample. After he obtains soil with the biological agent present, Danilovich falls into a sinkhole that suddenly opens.

Captain Nico Branco and crewmate Maggie Allan plan to explore the pit to retrieve Danilovich's body. Allan remains at the pit but disappears before the team can return with equipment. Branco authorizes Isaac Peres to explore the pit. He finds that a bacterial organism is present in the fissure. Allan and Danilovich reappear at the main outpost, but exposure to the organism has altered them into fast, aggressive, feral zombie-like creatures with blackened skin and no trace of their original personalities. Gosling dies from a power drill attack by one of the zombies and later revives as one himself. The remaining crew hold off the zombies while Branco and Peres return. Branco is also fatally injured and reanimates, which provides the crew with new insight into the symptoms: thirst, memory loss and aggression. It’s also discovered that antibiotics delay the infection.

After several fights and escapes from the zombies through the habitat modules, mission psychologist Marciano Torres saves himself by trapping scientist Alivia Beckman in the hydroponics lab with one of the zombies. Apolônia Rosa is also stabbed in the leg during the frantic escape to a rover. With their rover's power low, the survivors – Peres, Torres, and Rosa – decide they must get to the other rover, which is still at the site of the fissure. Under the pretence of a scouting operation, Torres steals the second rover and fails to persuade Peres to abandon Rosa, whom he states is infected. Torres meanwhile conceals evidence of his own possible infection.

While Peres and Rosa wait for the sun to rise and the solar-powered batteries to recharge, they discuss the nature of the zombies. Rosa questions whether any human consciousness remains trapped in them. Peres attempts to comfort her and falls asleep. When he awakens alone, Peres realizes that Rosa has fled into the desert, so he chases her. Rosa, who knows she is likely to transform, fails to deter Peres from following her. In desperation, she commits suicide by removing her helmet. After she dies, Rosa reanimates and begs Peres to destroy her. Peres reluctantly complies.

Peres and Torres separately converge on the Aurora lander, where the reanimated Beckman kills the lander's crew. Danilovich and the other zombies appear desiccated and inert. An infected Torres initiates a launch, which takes him and Peres into orbit. Peres kills Torres and ejects the body and virulent blood droplets into the vacuum of space. In a message to mission control, Peres says he does not have enough fuel for a rendezvous but that supplies aboard can last for months if they want to launch a rescue. He tells them that this might not be advisable as he could be infected, having gotten a drop of Torres's infected blood on his face; if so he has just enough fuel for re-entry and a fast death. Peres concludes that it will take 15 minutes for the transmission to be received and will await their reply. He subsequently ends the communication, still floating alone in space.

Cast

• Ian Sequeira as Isaac Peres
• Dário Cavaco as Nico Branco
• Nicole Abreu as Apolônia Rosa
• Harrison Carter as Christov Danilovich
• Marcelo Leite as Marciano Torres
• Jace Arbour as Tanner Gosling
• Erica Krier as Maggie Allan
• Frida Ehlers as Alivia Beckman

Production

Principal photography went from May to June 2024. Exterior shots took place in Emmiria, and then shooting moved to Alstree Studios in Vongane. The Emmirian vegetation was removed digitally.

Bantoa, off of recent commercial and critical successes of Mind of the Yellow Tree and Saktos, took up do Rosário's screenplay as a so-called passion project and cast familiar actors who had worked with him previously.

According to Bantoa, Adrien Dupuy was offered the role of Isaac Peres but turned it down due to scheduling issues. Francis Rouse and Lennard Backer were also considered for the role. When casting began in January 2024, Ian Sequeira took the role of Isaac Peres.