Saw The Martian, the film about Matt Damon stranded on Mars. He's marooned and sort of doomed from the start what with the limited supplies of air, water, and food, but he's just trying to limp along until he can be rescued. It's interesting however it is a bit video-game-y. He turns off the air conditioning and that nets him 5 power units that can be used to hook up another computer. It's interesting to see this poor guy struggle against the inhuman martian landscape.
The film is very throwback-y. The protagonist is actually competent, a real Buck Rogers type. He has limits, but he's tough and smart and capable. On earth, his handlers are also smart, though, capable. Everyone's good at their jobs! There's no disaster incurred by meddlesome suits or infuriating random stupidity. There's an annoying eccentric genius bopping about to make sure we know we're in the 2010s, but that aside this could have been from the 60s. Neat!
The engine of the film is just watching this guy survive. It's like watching a youtube how-to tutorial or something: seeing someone be deliberate and methodical and competent at something totally foreign to you for a while. There are no emotional stakes and the plot doesn't matter. It's sort of like It Follows in terms of it being more just a puzzle that you get to see someone solve.
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