The New 'ARQ' Trailer Is Netflix Done Right

It's not uncommon for viewers to think of huge blockbuster movies like Avatar or Terminator when they think of the sci-fi genre. It makes sense: many films in the genre end up creating brand-new universes to take place within, and building those worlds for the big screen often costs a lot of money. However, not all films within the sci-fi genre have to operate on such a grand scale — some can be simple stories with a contained premise that still manage to include at least some of the elements viewers love to see in big-budget sci-fi flicks. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of those smaller sci-fi films in existence — for now, anyway. Netflix released a trailer for their upcoming original film ARQ Thursday, and judging by the clip, the film may be aiming to prove that smaller sci-fi flicks have a place in Hollywood.

The concept of ARQ isn't exactly simple, but the nature of the story means that the film is somewhat contained within its own world. To put it simply, the project is set in a dystopian future in which wars around the world have consumed society as we know it. To help save society, an engineer (The Flash's Robbie Amell) creates a piece of technology that could deliver unlimited energy and end the wars, but it comes with a price: the technology has created a time loop that means the engineer and his partner (Jessica Jones' Rachael Taylor) are forced to relive the same day over and over again. Even worse, the day just so happens to be the one in which masked men break into their home to steal the technology and kill the engineer.

From the look of the trailer, ARQ doesn't appear to be a movie that will feature a huge, expansive world, despite its sci-fi elements. Instead, it appears to include a contained story that will likely reuse the same sets, actors, and effects to successfully depict the nightmare our two leads find themselves in. It looks like low-key sci-fi, and I am so here for it.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, ARQ was intended to be produced for Netflix as a low-budget picture. It was a smart move not only financially, but also because it seems to have resulted in a film that involves a genuinely good story above all else. Additionally, should ARQ succeed on Netflix, it could encourage Netflix to usher in a whole slew of new projects similar to this one: low-key on the outside, of of this world plot-wise.

Of course, we'll have to wait until Sept. 16 to find out for sure what ARQ's all about — but honestly, I've got a good feeling about this one.

Image: Netflix U.S. and Canada/YouTube