Directed by George Clooney. Starring George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Demian Bechir, Kyle Chandler, Tiffany Boone and Caiolinn Springall. Streaming on Netflix. Running time:118 mins. Star Rating **

George Clooney would appear to have taken the slapping down of his dismissive, “there's not going to be a President Donald Trump," prediction to heart. Other than drowning his sorrows in Nespresso adverts, his only screen credit during the Trump administration was a TV adaptation of Catch 22.

Trump's gone and George's back: in an Arctic observatory with a beard, a terminal disease, the world ending and only a stray mute child for company.

His mission is to warn a returning spaceship to stay away. Its crew are so perky you want him to succeed just to wipe the smiles off their faces. Clooney speaks in a low growl throughout which doesn't seem an appropriate way to engage with a young girl or break the news of humanity's demise over an unstable radio connection to people hundreds of thousands of miles away.

The misery of the situation seems to have knocked all the energy out of the production. The special effects are competently done but perfunctory. It's a glum plod that makes you question your will to live – which is perhaps the most helpful thing an end-of-the-world story can do.