Ariana Debose's Sci-fi Thriller On Hulu Is A Claustrophobic Nightmare Worth Checking Out

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Netflix might have won the streaming wars, but Hulu is a treasure trove of overlooked gems. Not only is the streamer the home of the most underrated movie of 2025 and future classic "Sovereign," there's also the 2020 crime thriller with strong neo-Western vibes and a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score "The Dry." Both are more grounded offerings that might have otherwise passed you by. But Imagine being rocketed into space only to watch, helpless, as Earth destroys itself. That's basically the premise of "I.S.S.," a sci-fi thriller starring Ariana DeBose which went mostly overlooked upon its 2023 debut, but which has now joined the estimable Hulu catalog.

Written by Nick Shafir and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite ("Blackfish"), "I.S.S." stars DeBose as an American astronaut sent to the International Space Station, where she meets her Russian counterparts. At first, the group bonds, but the whole thing becomes a pressure cooker when their home planet descends into nuclear war and they're tasked with taking control of their ship by their respective governments.

"I.S.S." premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival ahead of a theatrical release in the United States on in January 2024 — the dreaded "dump month." Sadly, mixed reviews and a $6.6 million box office gross on a budget of $13.8 million ensured the film was quickly forgotten. But this is the streaming age, where no film is ever truly cast out into the far reaches of space, as evidenced by the fact "I.S.S." is now available to stream on Hulu. It's worth seeking out, too, even if just for DeBose, who played Anita in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" before lending her voice talents to Disney's "Wish," and who does a fine job in the lead role of "I.S.S."

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Set in the near future, "I.S.S." follows NASA astronauts Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) and Christian Campbell (John Gallagher Jr.) as they arrive at the titular spacecraft and meet their colleagues. Already on board are American Commander Gordon Barrett (Chris Messina) and Russian cosmonaut Weronika Vetrov (Masha Mashkova), alongside brothers Nicholai and Alexey Pulov (Costa Ronin and Pilou Asbæk). Things get off to a great start, with the crew quickly bonding. Soon, however, Foster sees an explosion on the surface of Earth and assumes she's witnessing a volcano erupting. After several more blasts, however, it becomes clear something much more catastrophic is rocking the surface of her home planet.

Turns out the Ruskies have launched nukes at the Americans, and the two countries are now engaged in full-on nuclear war. Soon Gordon receives a communication from the U.S. Government: seize control of the I.S.S. at all costs. He informs Foster and Campbell, and they quickly realize their Russian colleagues likely received the same order from their government. Boom, you've got yourself the basis of a seriously intense and claustrophobic space thriller.

Of course, since there was no pre-existing IP to milk here, and with a lack of any major star power distributor Bleecker Street seemingly saw fit to dump "I.S.S." in a handful of theaters in January 2024. Ahead of its release, /Film's Ryan Scott wondered if "I.S.S." could defy the odds at the box office. Alas, predictably the low-budget sci-fi thriller made a minor impact, earning back about half its budget and plummeting to Earth. Now, however, Hulu has salvaged the wreckage.

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Though it takes place aboard a spacecraft above a planet scorched by futuristic nuclear weapons, "I.S.S." manages to stay somewhat grounded simply by dint of the fact it's a human drama that plays out in a relatively confined space. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has a background in documentary and factual entertainment work which stretches much further back than her 2013 documentary "Blackfish." As such, "I.S.S." might seem as though it should be more than a standard space thriller. But, oddly enough, Cowperthwaite didn't seem to push many boundaries, and it's not clear based on the critical response to the movie, whether her documentary sensibility helped or hindered the film.

"I.S.S." has a 61% on Rotten Tomatoes with Helen O'Hara of Empire Magazine lamenting the fact that what could have been "a meaty psychological drama" has been turned into "a slightly insipid thriller instead." But Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com enjoyed it as an "efficient thrill ride," wherein "every moment [is] used as effectively as possible." What's more, Ariana DeBose managed to impress most critics, with even Peter Travers, who otherwise wasn't convinced, writing, "Ariana DeBose and Chris Messina excel in this space thriller." Likewise, The Guardian's Cath Clarke commended Debose on "a brilliant performance."

Clearly, there's a lot to like about "I.S.S." beyond its intriguing premise. Like Elizabeth Olsen's 2025 sci-fi movie "The Assessment," also on Hulu, it arguably deserves more than a brief streaming reprieve. But since the film did hit Hulu on July 8, 2026, the least we can do is give it a go.