Beyond (2014 film)

Lore & Background

The film follows Cole (Richard J. Danum) and Maya (Gillian MacGregor) as they meet at a house party and begin a relationship while an asteroid approaches Earth. Their discussions about the impending disaster reveal differing philosophies: Maya believes modern stress would evaporate in the face of certain doom, while Cole argues that everything would matter. The narrative intercuts between their present-day relationship and flashforwards to a post-apocalyptic Scotland where they hide from alien spaceships.

As the asteroid grows closer, Cole proposes to Maya, and she accepts. Their relationship becomes strained when Maya becomes pregnant; Cole opposes having a child in the face of disaster, while Maya, who had believed she was incapable of pregnancy, insists on keeping the baby. The flashforwards show their baby in the care of Maya's parents and the couple's deteriorating relationship, culminating in them eating baby food they had agreed to save.

The film's ending reveals that the flashforward scenes may have been imagined by Cole as he lies delirious from a gunshot wound. Maya calls to tell him the asteroid has missed Earth and she has given birth to a baby girl. The film concludes with Cole in a hospital bed, Maya beside him.

Reader's Guide

Beyond is notable for its ambiguous genre classification: due to its ending, there was debate as to whether it qualified as science fiction, though it was ultimately allowed to play at the Sci-Fi-London festival. Critics described it as a low-budget character-driven drama that uses the science fiction premise as a backdrop for a relationship story. Dominic Cuthbert of Starburst called it 'a low budget treat continuing in the Great British indie tradition,' while Jeremy Aspinall of Radio Times noted that science fiction fans might be disappointed by the low-key focus on a relatable relationship drama. Alex Fitch of Electric Sheep Magazine described it as 'a great new Scottish genre movie' reminiscent of Once. Kevan Farrow of Scream magazine rated it 3.5/5 stars, writing that it is 'bleak, involving and daring in its restraint' and best served as a character-driven drama rather than an alien invasion film. The film was released on DVD in the UK by Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment on 12 January 2015.

Did You Know?

• The film was written and directed by Joseph Baker and Tom Large.
• Filming took place in Scotland.
• The film premiered at the Sci-Fi-London film festival on 24 April 2014.
• There was debate over whether the film qualified as science fiction due to its ending.

Defining the Genre's Boundaries

The question of what constitutes science fiction has generated decades of debate among writers, scholars, and readers. Isaac Asimov framed it as literature dealing with humanity's reaction to shifts in science and technology, while Robert A. Heinlein emphasized realistic speculation grounded in adequate knowledge of the real world and a thorough grasp of the scientific method. Lester del Rey acknowledged that even devoted fans struggle to articulate the genre's boundaries, noting that no fully satisfactory definition exists because the limits are not easily delineated. Damon Knight captured the circular nature of the problem with his famous quip that science fiction is simply what we point to and call it. The 1993 Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, devoted extensive discussion to this definitional challenge. David Seed suggested it might be more productive to discuss science fiction as the intersection of more concrete subgenres rather than trying to draw a single boundary line. This ongoing ambiguity means that works like a 2014 science fiction film exist within a genre whose edges remain deliberately porous.

Ancient Roots and Early Precursors

Scholars have traced science fiction's thematic DNA back to antiquity, when the line between myth and factual knowledge was not yet firmly drawn. Lucian's second-century satire A True Story contains elements recognizable in modern science fiction: journeys to other worlds, encounters with extraterrestrial beings, interplanetary conflict, and artificial life. Some readers even claim it as the genre's first novel. Stories within The Arabian Nights, the tenth-century Japanese Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, and Ibn al-Nafis's thirteenth-century Theologus Autodidactus have all been cited as containing science-fictional elements. The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment produced a wave of science-fantasy works: Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, Johannes Kepler's Somnium (which Asimov and Carl Sagan regarded as the first science fiction story), Athanasius Kircher's Itinerarium extaticum, Cyrano de Bergerac's lunar and solar epics, Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Ludvig Holberg's Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum, and Voltaire's Micromégas. These texts established speculative frameworks that would eventually crystallize into the modern genre.

Subgenres and Thematic Evolution

The thematic vocabulary of science fiction has broadened considerably across centuries. Early works centered on space exploration, extraterrestrial life, time travel, and robotics. Over time, the genre absorbed parallel universes, dystopian societies, and biological manipulation. More recently, information technology, transhumanism, posthumanism, and environmental challenges have entered the speculative toolkit. This expansion has given rise to distinct subgenres with different emphases. Hard science fiction prioritizes scientific accuracy, while soft science fiction leans toward social sciences. Space opera emphasizes pure adventure in settings where interstellar travel is routine. Cyberpunk interrogates the boundary between technology and society. Climate fiction addresses pressing environmental issues. The modern genre, which arose primarily in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when popular writers turned to technological progress for inspiration, grew substantially during the Golden Age of Science Fiction and expanded further with the introduction of space operas, dystopian literature, and pulp magazines. Mary Shelley's 1818 Frankenstein is frequently credited as the first true science fiction novel, with Jules Verne and H. G. Wells serving as pivotal developmental figures.

Cultural Reach and the Language of Speculation

Science fiction's influence extends well beyond the written page into film, television, and broader cultural conversation. The genre serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it can critique present-day society, explore alternative social arrangements, provide entertainment, and inspire a sense of wonder. The terminology surrounding the genre itself reflects its cultural position. Forrest J. Ackerman is credited with popularizing the abbreviation 'sci-fi' around 1954, echoing the trendy 'hi-fi' of the era, with the first known printed use appearing in a January 1954 review of Donovan's Brain by critic Jesse Zunser. However, as the genre entered mainstream culture, many writers and fans came to associate 'sci-fi' with low-quality pulp and low-budget B-movies. By the 1970s, critics like Damon Knight and Terry Carr used the term deliberately to separate hackwork from serious science fiction. Peter Nicholls noted around 1993 that 'SF' remained the preferred abbreviation within the community of writers and readers. Heinlein himself found 'science fiction' insufficient for more thoughtful works and proposed 'speculative fiction' as an alternative label.