Infiniti (Poiraud, 2024)

Written by Tom Augustine.

I can’t say it’s very often that a series with key players from the Eastern European nation of Kazakhstan crosses my desk, much less a buzzed-about science fiction series, the latest from prolific French mastermind Thierry Poiraud. That series is Infiniti, the award-winning six-part miniseries which wears a range of influences on its sleeve, and yet quickly establishes itself as a new beast entirely. The stressful space-rescue signposts of Gravity, the spine-tingling unknowns of Twin Peaks or the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and the noirish intrigue of a True Detective series intermingle freely here into a heady blend of mystery and possibility. At the heart of Infiniti is an intriguing setup – the body of an astronaut aboard the International Space Station has mysteriously appeared, covered in wax and decapitated, on the roof of an isolated warehouse in the desolate hinterlands of Kazakhstan. The only thing – that’s not possible, because that same astronaut, an American named Kurz (an Apocalypse Now reference? We’ll have to wait and see), is adrift on the damaged ISS, careening chaotically through space after a disastrous docking manoeuvre went awry.

It’s a whodunnit – how can a person be alive in one place and dead in another all at once – that has been the staple of noirs throughout the 20th and 21st Century, but one which finds refreshing new purchase here, at least as far as the first two episodes watched for this review go, as spine-tingling unknowns mount menacingly across three different perspectives. The first is our heroine, and chief detective of this story, Kurz’ fellow astronaut Anna Zarathi (Céline Sallette), who’s sudden breakdown saw Kurz take her place on a manned mission to the Space Station. The second is a grizzled Kazakhi cop,  Isaak Turgun (Daniyar Alshinov), fitting well into the mould of ‘noble detective with a dark past’, but with the added freshness of a perspective (that of the Kazakh police force) rarely seen in big-budget television. The last follows the internecine dealings of the various on-the-ground ISS workers and their bosses, comprising countries like France, Russia and the USA, each with their own specific goals and secrets kept close to their chest. These three perspectives establish themselves immediately and grippingly in the series opening sequences, which tie the three together as the ISS faces catastrophe. As the station is partially dismantled by flying debris, Cuarón-style, Zarathi is rushed to hospital following an attempted suicide. The expert intercutting in this sequence sets the tone, bolting us to our seats while teasing questions that will evidently unravel across later episodes.

Screening EXCLUSIVELY on Rialto Channel in June, this French/Kazakhstani limited science fiction series is a thrillingly peculiar and unsettling blend of noirish mystery and chilly futuristic parable. Making great use of the desolate Kazakhstan landscape and a strong ensemble cast, it’s a muscular, mature and deeply intriguing mystery not to be missed.

While Sallette is an eminently watchable lead, the real sizzle of Infiniti comes from its unsettling Kazakhstan sequences, as we follow Detective Turgan down a nefarious rabbit hole involving ancient religions, creepy towers, nuclear test sites and barren, windswept landscapes. The brushes with Kazakhstan culture are illuminating, while Alshinov plays grizzled well. It feels deeply intentional that the endless, milky-white landscapes of the Kazakh hinterlands could easily double for a lunar surface, where every remote outpost of human inhabitants feels intrinsically out-of-place. Who delivers the cigarettes to the lonesome pit stop on the edge of the world? Every intermittent check-in with this part of the world, which feels both insignificant in the grand scheme of the ISS shenanigans and yet will surely be key to the entire ordeal, escalates a persistent feeling of dread and uncanniness that is fiendishly well-handled by director Poiraud. 

Perhaps what is most impressive about Infiniti is the way in which it quickly establishes itself as the peer, not the apprentice, of those American and British series of far more immense budgets and star-power. There’s a sweep and ambition to Infiniti, both in production value and narrative, that makes it easy to align the series with science fiction television classics like Fringe, Lost and yes, True Detective. The first two episodes impose a litany of spine-tingling questions, with each development revealing far less than it sprouts new mysteries. It’s that confidence that leaves us itching to know more.

Infiniti premieres exclusively on Rialto Channel from June 4, 8:30pm. 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER