‘Spying Stars’ review: Vimukthi Jayasundara meditates on grief in lyrical Sri Lankan sci-fi drama

Dir: Vimukthi Jayasundara. Sri Lanka/India/France. 2025. 99mins.

Sri Lankan bioengineer Anandi (Indira Tiwari) returns to earth to bury her recently deceased father after several years in space, only to be quarantined at a plush island resort when she tests positive for a virus ravaging the world. Unable to properly mourn her loss, the scientist remains withdrawn and sceptical of everything around her. Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Spying Stars is a science fiction experiment that at times recalls Alphaville in the way it makes the present day seem like the world of the future. The film won’t be to all tastes, but those who take the time to let the lush images wash over them will be rewarded with quiet moments of grace.

Esoteric, enigmatic and mystical

Jayasundara is one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent filmmakers, winning the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2005 for his debut film The Forsaken Land, which he followed with Between Two Worlds in 2009 and the 2011 global anthology 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero. He now returns to the familiar ground of Sri Lanka’s civil war, interweaving it with the Covid-19 pandemic and AI; here imagined as machine rule. Spying Stars has the same cryptic tone as the director’s earlier work but its universal themes of loss, grief and acceptance make it arguably Jayasundara’s most accessible work yet. Esoteric, enigmatic and mystical in a way that is characteristic of much Sri Lankan cinema, Spying Stars should connect with audiences on the festival circuit following its world premiere in competition at Busan, and it looks likely to appeal to niche streamers.

A tortoise slowly emerges from its shell on the ground and starts an undetermined journey just as Anandi touches down in a spacecraft. At what is essentially planetary immigration she is told she is carrying the ‘illvibe’ virus and promptly ordered into quarantine on Hanuman Island – Hanuman being the name of one of the Hindu god Rama’s most devoted immortals. Confined at a luxurious resort, all her needs are attended to by Nita (Hidaayath Hazeer, Funny Boy), the trans concierge and manager.

After receiving the ashes of her dead father – who she discovers died of illvibe – Anandi sinks further into her torpor. She begins to notice how people in the village around the resort are losing limbs or vanishing, that there are surveillance cameras everywhere and, seemingly, a UFO hovering over them. Finally unable to bear any more she makes a run for the jungle and finds refuge with Nita and her mother (Jayasundara regular Kaushalya Fernando) in their isolated home. It is here that Anandi begins to acknowledge the guilt she feels about her absence and finally starts to heal, with help from a local shaman who conjures the spirit of her father. Through it all, the tortoise continues its slow march to somewhere.

As with most of Jayasundara’s films, dialogue is scarce; Anandi barely speaks for the first 45 minutes. Instead the state of the world is communicated through news reports in the background or from roadside incidents Anandi glimpses through her car window. Poetic images, captured by cinematographer Eeshit Narain, and ambient sound are left to tell the story, along with a carefully modulated performance from Tiwari. 

Throughout, the tranquility of the island (the film was shot in central Sri Lanka) and Anandi’s internal sorrow are pierced by the sudden shock of alarms and shrieks, and the sight of state kidnappings and body parts washing up on shore. These elements contribute to the emotional maze Anandi feels compelled to escape so that she can grieve. The film’s calming images and disquieting soundscape also challenge ideas of what science fiction cinema should be, even if some of its narrative aspects are a little on the nose: the illvibe virus is best monitored by steering clear of digital technology; humanity must unite with nature in harmony to defeat the machines.