Mercado’s production design team creates this wonderland homeliness about the spacecraft, like how there’s a den area that’s furnished like any Americana living room with showroom furniture, a rug, and a television. The large wall-sized window reveals pinkish, orangey, purplish solar system backdrops that are colorful like a kindergartener’s painting, morphing space’s suffocating darkness into a whimsical landscape. Outdoor views of the NASA vessel are cardboard models, rainbow streamers, and other craft supplies that soften the otherwise dire scenario of hurdling through nothingness without any indication of rescue. “If You Were The Last” could be dismally dark — or worse, “Passengers” — but Mercado’s do-it-yourself special effects soothe like a warm blanket that keeps us cozy (while doubling as a visual storytelling device to be later revealed).
Mackie and Chao ooze romantic chemistry as they banter back and forth about the meaninglessness and importance of sexual intercourse. Mackie’s man of research weighs decisions based on not wanting to masturbate in the greenhouse anymore, while Chao’s more romantic soul pokes holes in more robotic arguments. Mackie and Chao’s will they/won’t they is dripping with sexual tension as they tangle limbs during dance interludes or cuddle after watching “Alien,” all the while breaking down basic human urges and our desires for happiness. There’s an overarching theme of finding pleasure even in the most drastic situations and complications once details from their Earth existences are introduced as more debate topics — which cannot thwart the charisma behind either Mackie or Chao’s horned-up inquisitions.
