Cast: Anthony Ramos as Andy, Naomi Scott as Naomi, Kristofer Hivju as Dwayne, Zachary Quinto as the voice of L.E.O.N.A.R.D.

Written By:Spenser Cohen (Tarot, moonfall)

directed By:Josh Gordon and Will Speck (Blades Of Glory, office Christmas Party)

Original Score By: Steven Price Oscar Winner for Gravity)

Studio: Universal

Release Year: 2025

Rated PG-13 for creature violence and some strong language.

Runtime: 87 minutes

This Film Has No Known Audio Description

What Is It?: Great question. This is a science fiction film that is set around a man of low importance who survives a cataclysmic event that destroys the ship he was on, killing nearly everyone on board. He crash lands on an unknown planet, with very little resources and oxygen to spare. With the help of the AI built into his suit, he’ll try and survive, but the things already living on this planet might have something to say about it.

Additional Context: This film was originally titled Distant, and was sitting on the shelf for a few years, before going through a name change and being unceremoniously dumped onto Hulu. And it isn’t even being billed as a streaming exclusive debut. Now called Long Distance, this is the film someone definitely doesn’t want you to see.

Why It Works: I would like to encourage sighted people to check this out. I have a sneaking suspicion this isn’t a dumpster fire. it is a rather fast paced, short science fiction film, and Anthony Ramos does a solid job of pretending he’s in way over his head. However, I’m a blind film critic, and the lack of audio description on a science fiction film almost always renders it pointless or unwatchable. In spirit, i support this because the censorship and determination to buy the film of course meant no one was going to pay for accessibility, but the way we keep films from being shafted is by watching them. Hollywood has tried to make films disappear before, notably WBD with Batgirl, but even Universal bought a fully completed Pharrell Williams musical titled Golden just to bury it. Artists worked on these films, and considering what Hollywood seems comfortable giving us anyway, I don’t understand the reasoning behind sending this to Hulu with little fanfare.

What Doesn’t Work: As a blind film critic, again my reason for doing this, the film is pointless for anyone in my shoes. You won’t know what kind of alien is attacking him, and I did read what I was missing, and there are a few different options. The film does have some action sequences, a little bit of gore, and potential for jump scares. It probably would be a solid watch with accessibility, but without it, no matter how much I feel for this film, I can’t say my actual experience was good. I support fighting censorship, but sometimes even in that battle, you’ll find that not all of what you stand for in spirit is supported in a quality experience. Also, in my research, it seems like he fights some giant spiders, and I think part of the fun of landing on an unknown planet, is that you could literally be up against anything in the writers imagination. Maybe, perhaps, not something we have on earth.

Why We Need Audio Description: Ramos does what he can, having dialogue with other survivors, and his AI, but this is not a film that lives and dies in dialogue. you’re going to want to know what his craft looks like, his suit, the monsters, how he fights them off and escapes, or doesn’t escape. What kind of wreckage he finds. Does he find anyone else alive? Or dead? What does the planet look like? Is it dark? Light? Does it have any bold design that gives it a wild difference from Earth? Is there a way to describe Ramos? How about his facial expressions and reactions? There’s so much left out of a film like this, and especially when you step into science fiction, and the unknown, we really don’t know what he’s up against. there may be no real life counterpart like it.

Why You Might Like it: You can see. And you like science fiction survival thrillers, especially ones that aren’t low budget.

Why You Might Not Like It: Because you are blind or low vision, and the lack of accessibility is a deal breaker, or because you can see, and you’ve seen too many films like this before.

Final Thoughts: Long Distance isn’t necessarily breaking new ground, but one has to wonder what it did to deserve the treatment it got. When a title gets abandoned like this, it ends up treating the concept of accessibility as a distant memory. Art is for the people, and quality is determined in reactions by those who consume said art. Art is not meant to be created by a conglomerate by other artists, and then tucked away so it cannot be appreciated or not appreciated as is. At the end of the day, my experience and grade reflects less the possibilities of the film, and more the barrier put up through a lack of audio description.

rotten: 3.0/10