Not every great story can be made into a great film.

Novels, in particular present a problem of compression. The concept and cast must be made to fit into 90 to 120 pages.

I think the larger problem here is the lack of a malevolent, fightable villain. We get nothing to hate, or even dislike, and nothing against which we can fight. With nothing to hate and fight, we end up with no heroes.

A film without heroes isn’t inspiring, and a film in which everyone dies isn’t fun. These are basics that someone should have pointed out before giving Garland $40 million to make this film.