Haynes

“I’m thinking politically today,” says Elisabeth McKeon, 31, who was planning on grabbing “The Great Dictator,” “A Face in the Crowd” and Todd Haynes’ “Safe.”

Unpacking the apprehensions and opportunities of boom-time America as laid out in Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, director Daniel Minahan gamely plants one foot in Douglas Sirk territory while glancing in the direction of Todd Haynes.

And that is one of the most useful aspects of a hyperlocal government during a crisis: it can provide a central spot for questions, information and updates, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Haynes Foundation, which supports research on governance and democracy in the L.A. region.

Returning director Toby Haynes calls the original “a perfect script, a neat potboiler,” but describes “Into Infinity” as “maybe the most ambitious ‘Black Mirror’ episode ever made.”

The cues of classic sci-fi were still there — including Nanette’s garb deliberately evoking Ripley in “Aliens,” and space combat evoking “Star Wars” — but Haynes also wanted to lean into what makes these stories original.