--- title: "Star Trek: Section 31" year: 2025 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/star-trek-section-31" fi1m_score: 35 critics_score: 36 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-18T12:41:26.417197+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T12:41:26.871117+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Star Trek: Section 31 (2025) Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi · 1h 36m · MPA PG-13 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Action **Fi1m score: 35** · Critics 36 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Michelle Yeoh in a succession of excellent coats, waiting 96 minutes for a film to arrive > Michelle Yeoh’s disgraced emperor gets her own spin-off, and it turns out to be a heist comedy with the jokes played too loud and the heist cut too fast. She is worth watching. Little around her is, and most critics agree. ## Synopsis A prologue shows the young Philippa Georgiou (Miku Martineau) winning the throne of the Terran Empire in a mirror universe, and what she gives up to take it. Years later the grown Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) runs a nightclub on a station beyond Federation space, where nobody asks about her past. A team from Section 31, the Federation’s secret intelligence service, arrives to recruit her. Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick) leads it, with the shapeshifter Quasi (Sam Richardson), the armoured Zeph (Robert Kazinsky), Melle (Humberly González) and Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok), a tiny creature piloting a borrowed body. Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), a young Starfleet officer who believes in the rules, is sent along to watch them. A courier turns up at the club carrying a weapon from Georgiou’s old universe, and the job becomes recovering it before anyone uses it. ## Review Philippa Georgiou was the best thing in *Star Trek: Discovery*, a mirror-universe tyrant marooned among the well-mannered, played by Michelle Yeoh as a woman who finds everyone around her slightly disappointing. She earned a spin-off. What she has been given is *Section 31*, planned as a series, cut down to a 96-minute film, and put out in Britain on 24 January 2025 without going near a cinema. Olatunde Osunsanmi directs from a screenplay by Craig Sweeny, and the idea is a *Star Trek* without Starfleet: spies rather than diplomats, a heist rather than a mission, a crew who would not last a week on a Federation ship. It is a decent idea, and the film is poor. The crew is most of the trouble. Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick) leads, and Hardwick and Yeoh have a rapport, a wary, grown-up needling between two people who have decided not to trust each other and are enjoying it. Around them Sweeny has assembled the usual assortment: Quasi (Sam Richardson), a shapeshifter who would rather not shift; Zeph (Robert Kazinsky), a man inside a walking suit of armour; Melle (Humberly González), whose talent is being impossible to refuse; and Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok), a tiny creature driving a borrowed body and talking without pause. Each is handed one joke on arrival and makes it again every few minutes. We were bored by the third repeat of Fuzz’s and irritated by the end of the first act, because a film this short cannot afford to keep telling us what it has already told us. The action does not rescue it. Glen Keenan shoots the fights close and handheld, and Bartholomew Burcham cuts them into pieces a second or two long, so a corridor brawl becomes a rattle of elbows and sparks in which we could not have said who hit whom, or why the person on the floor was the one who had been winning. Jeff Russo’s score arrives at the same volume for a scuffle as for the end of a world. After an hour we had stopped hearing it, which we do not think was the plan. Some of it is handsome. Paul Kirby’s production design gives Georgiou a club worth the visit: a bar stacked in tiers under red and violet light, with a dance floor she surveys from above like a woman still running a court. Gersha Phillips dresses her for it in gowns and long coats, each better than the last, and Yeoh wears them as though they were armour. Kacey Rohl’s Rachel Garrett, sent along to make sure the rules are kept, is the one supporting player with a straight face, and the film picks up whenever she is allowed to disapprove of something. Yeoh is the reason to stay. The prologue, in which the young Georgiou (Miku Martineau) wins the Terran throne, shows what she paid for it, and there is a moment in the club, later, when the adult Georgiou remembers it and the bravado drops out of Yeoh’s face for perhaps two seconds. We were moved, and had not expected to be, and then Fuzz said something and it was gone. That is the film in small: a performer capable of carrying a tragedy, handed a farce and told to shout over it. Sweeny’s screenplay wants Georgiou forgiven. In *Discovery* she was a conqueror on a planetary scale, and the film knows it, because characters keep reminding her. What it does not do is make her earn anything. She is rude, then useful, then embraced, and the story calls that an arc. Several critics have objected to pardoning a mass murderer on those terms, and they have a point, though ours is simpler. Nobody here changes. A couple of reviews have enjoyed it as cheerful, violent rubbish, unlike the franchise around it, and we can see the film they are describing. It is not cheerful enough to get away with it. *Star Trek* has done comedy before and crooks before, and the trick both times was to let the joke land before the next explosion. Here the explosions arrive first. It is 96 minutes, which is a mercy, and it ends as though a second episode were about to start, which is not. Anyone who missed Georgiou will get a few minutes of her at full strength and may think that enough. Everyone else has been sold a pilot for a series nobody is going to make, and the club is the only part of it we would ask to see again. *Fi1m score 35, published 18 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (13) - **Los Angeles Times**, Robert Lloyd (55/100, inferred): The film is diverting but frustrating, feeling more like a pilot episode than a complete movie due to its origins as a planned series; Yeoh remains wonderful to watch amid the tonal mishmash. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2025-01-23/star-trek-area-31-review) - **Variety**, Dennis Harvey (45/100, inferred): The film is a superficially diverting but convoluted and tonally wobbly tangent that lacks the character and heart expected from Trek, falling between a series episode and a standalone feature. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/star-trek-section-31-review-michelle-yeoh-1236285728/) - **Radio Times**, David Brown (2/5): The critic finds the film a noisy, bombastic affair that strips away Star Trek's optimistic ethos and iconography in favor of a grungy aesthetic and standard sci-fi action plot about a destructive weapon. Some humor from the ragtag crew is noted but drowned out by explosions, with the result neither fun enough for newcomers nor satisfying for longtime fans. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/scifi/star-trek-section-31-review/) - **Empire**, James Dyer (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a bland comedy spacecapade that sanitises Michelle Yeoh's compelling anti-hero and feels like a middling pilot episode rather than a proper movie or series launch. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-trek-section-31/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (25/100, inferred): The critic concludes that the film is subpar and fails to live up to the Star Trek franchise despite Michelle Yeoh's commanding presence. They single out the weak screenplay, unsuccessful attempts at humor from the quirky supporting characters, and underwhelming plot elements for criticism while noting some diversion in the action sequences. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/star-trek-section-31-review-michelle-yeoh-1236113083/) - **Total Film**, David Opie (25/100, inferred): The critic concludes that Michelle Yeoh deserves far better than this sci-fi spin-off, which fails to deliver on its premise. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/sci-fi-movies/star-trek-section-31-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Clint Worthington (20/100, inferred): The film is a cynical, shrug-worthy TV movie that feels like an aborted spinoff series, failing to capture what makes Star Trek appealing and instead resembling a cheap franchise cash-in with poor chemistry and execution. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-trek-section-31-movie-review-2025) - **Vulture** (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film sloppy, misguided, and rote, unable to capitalize on its promising elements or Yeoh's star power. They single out the obnoxious supporting characters, questionable redemption arc for a genocidal figure, poor editing, and failure to capture the soul of the franchise for complaint. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-star-trek-section-31-just-doesnt-have-the-juice.html) - **The Telegraph** (10/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a dire new low for the franchise and a career low for Michelle Yeoh, describing it as crass, poorly acted, deafening, absurd and dull. The review singles out the incomprehensible dialogue and inane action sequences as especially poor. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/how-hollywood-ruined-star-trek/) - **/Film**, Jacob Hall (7/10): The critic finds it an entertaining slice of B-movie action trash that is goofy, silly, and ridiculous yet delivers simple pleasure as a seedy, violent departure from typical Trek ideals. The cast, particularly Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou and Sam Richardson as the shapeshifting Quasi, is singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1768409/star-trek-section-31-review/) - **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a pleasant surprise full of nuance and charm, successfully delivering a spy thriller that sticks the landing despite initial skepticism. Yeoh's complex Georgiou character and her redemption arc are singled out for particular praise, along with the fun Mission: Impossible-style set pieces. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/star-trek-section-31-review-michelle-yeoh-paramount-plus/) - **Collider**, Samantha Coley (4/10): The critic finds it a forgettable and disappointing heist movie that wastes its premise, cast talents, and any Star Trek identity. She singles out the strong chemistry between Yeoh and Hardwick plus the immersive visuals and costumes for praise. [Read](https://collider.com/star-trek-section-31-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Joe George (2/5): The critic finds the film an ugly, forgettable TV movie that applies a thin veneer of Star Trek references to derivative, poorly executed action and jokes. They single out the shaky, disinterested direction of the fight scenes and the repetitive, unfunny one-liners for complaint. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-trek-section-31-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Olatunde Osunsanmi - **Director:** Olatunde Osunsanmi - **Screenplay:** Craig Sweeny - **Story:** Bo Yeon Kim, Erika Lippoldt - **Cinematography:** Glen Keenan - **Editor:** Bartholomew Burcham - **Music:** Jeff Russo - **Production design:** Paul Kirby - **Costume design:** Gersha Phillips - **Producer:** Ted Miller - **Cast:** Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou; Omari Hardwick as Alok Sahar; Sam Richardson as Quasi; Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garrett; Sven Ruygrok as Fuzz; Robert Kazinsky as Zeph; Humberly González as Melle; James Hiroyuki Liao as San - **Runtime:** 1h 36m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 24 January 2025 - **Genres:** Science Fiction, Adventure, Action - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfXhCp2UVY ## Where to watch in the US - Paramount+: streaming - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Apple TV: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $4.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-18.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, SE, SG, TH, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Galaxy Quest* (1999): The Trek comedy that works, because it loves the thing it is laughing at. - *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* (2000), Fi1m 90: Yeoh given a script equal to her stillness, and fights you can follow. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon.md) - *Farscape* (1999), Fi1m 82: A fugitive crew of misfits on a living ship, and the jokes actually land. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/farscape.md) - *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* (1982), Fi1m 85: What a Trek film about an old enemy and a costly past looks like. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan.md) - *Serenity* (2005): Outlaws beyond the reach of a polite government, with people worth caring about. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/star-trek-section-31