'Worst nightmare' space horror 'masterpiece' now streaming free on ITVX

A bone-chilling space horror featuring a 'worst nightmare' plot twist starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson is now available to stream for free on ITVX.

Life sees a six-member crew of the International Space Station discover the first signs of extraterrestrial life from Mars, they're astonished by the organism, named Calvin, which can rapidly evolve in its new, caged habitat.

As in most great sci-fi horror flicks, Calvin proves to be much more intelligent and dangerous than first realised, first harming the crew by mangling the hand of crew member Hugh, which ultimately leads to Calvin's escape from his container.

What follows then is a terrifingly tense game of cat and mouse between the alien lifeform and human crew aboard the ISS, with Calvin navigating the space station's airways and pipes, growing its grotesque, multi-limbed, translucent body.

"With the discovery of life elsewhere in the universe being one of the biggest questions as a human being, after watching this, I'm not so sure," commented IMDB reviewer, cmfrench.

"From the moment that 'thing' came to life, I knew we were stepping into the realms of the unknown. Caution should be of utmost importance."

Other fans of the film cited its real-world setting as an added element to the horror, elevating Life from similar concepts seen in the Alien franchise and other space horrors.

Reviewer Mukool-Hastak summed this up by posting a 10-star review stating: "[The film] has people who seem to be astronauts, dealing with a growing life form, rather than space heroes shooting space guns at space monsters.

"The horror, suspense and intrigue is, in my opinion, a near-perfect example of Murphy's law in action. Then, the acting is actually very well done, given the situations the characters find themselves in."

This 2017 release has flown relatively under the radar, considering its lead inclusions of Gyllenhaal and Reynolds, who both deliver eerily believable performances as they're chased by a Martian predator.

Life has a 1-hour-44-minute runtime on ITVX, which is a free streaming platform, though an account is required to access the movie, with ads featured on the free service.

It holds a 6.6/10 star rating on IMDB and a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer system with largely positive audience reviews, though some critics cite the character's decision-making through the horror as a weak point, a common complaint in the genre.

And, while the film certainly takes inspiration from the aforementioned Alien franchise, it is by no means the first Hollywood movie to do so, while also being one of the better attempts to recreate genuinely frightful viewing with a borrowed concept.

As IMDB user Leofwine_draca summarises: "LIFE tells a familiar story in a familiar way, but I really enjoyed it, and it's one of the few films to actually get my heart going; I experienced genuine fear, for the first time in a long time, in the early sequences in which the alien is trying to escape. I put this down to the sterling job done by director Daniel Espinosa, of EASY MONEY fame."