Re-Assessing Section 31: A Positive Appraisal of the TV Movie
This film, released in January 2025, catches up with Philippa Georgiou, following the events of Star Trek: Discovery’s third season. Most Star Trek stories focus on exploration or interstellar politics, usually involving a starship crew. Section 31, however, stands out as a rare heist-style entry in the franchise. Despite nominations for five Razzie Awards, it can be seen as an arresting watch. How does it avoid necessarily robbing the audience of an enjoyable viewing experience?
Log Entry
Section 31 opens with a short prologue which flashes back to the Mirror Universe, depicting Georgiou’s rise to power in the Terran Empire. On the planet Terra, a young Georgiou is forced to assassinate her family before enslaving her last surviving (and failed) rival, San.
The story shifts to the Prime Universe, where former Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou – now known as Madame du Franc – runs the independent space station Baraam. Its position far outside Federation jurisdiction makes it ideal for shady dealings. Georgiou has found herself displaced into the 24th century, prior to the events of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
In this new chapter for the ex-emperor, a ragtag team of Section 31 agents contacts Georgiou. Led by Alok, Alpha Team includes Fuzz, who is a microscopic creature piloting a robotic Vulcan, the Deltan woman Melle, the shape-shifting Chameloid Quasi, the cyborg male Zeph, and Starfleet science division lieutenant Rachel Garrett (from The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”). The group briefs Georgiou about a stolen doomsday device which has resurfaced en route to the Baraam. Alpha Team intends to recover the superweapon aboard the station.
Georgiou offers a shortcut: using her authority as station proprietress to gain quick access to the device. The plan seems to work, until she and her new allies are ambushed by a mysterious soldier using a phase pod, a device which lets him walk through bulkheads and dodge phaser fire. The stranger kills Melle before making off with the weapon.
Georgiou recognizes the device as one constructed under her orders in the Mirror Universe. A lifetime ago, San delivered it to her but then, defying her, he poisoned himself.
Back in the Prime Universe, Alok confesses to Georgiou that he is an Augment from Earth’s Eugenics Wars. In return, she identifies the superweapon as the Godsend – a Terran super-deterrent she once ordered built, capable of annihilating an entire quadrant. Realizing its former courier is from the Mirror Universe, Georgiou and Alok interrogate him, learning a member of their team is a mole who intends to sell the Godsend to Terran invaders. The courier dies in an explosion which Georgiou and Alok, reuniting with the rest of Alpha Team, blame on sabotage committed by the mole.
After suspicion involving the murder of Zeph, Georgiou exposes the murderous mole as Fuzz, whose minuteness allows him to hack into most biotech systems. A frantic attempt to stop Fuzz culminates in Georgiou stabbing him. He admits the masked thief is San, Georgiou’s former lover, who faked his suicide.
Alpha Team, restoring an outdated garbage scow, pursues San’s ship into a nebula. Aboard his spacecraft, San declares to Georgiou that he plans to rule the Prime Universe with his Terran reinforcements – mercifully – which Georgiou rejects, insisting there are no benevolent dictators.
Georgiou embraces San in a final attempt at connection, but he dies accidentally by his own blade. Triggering the Godsend, Georgiou and Alok fly the superweapon into the Mirror Universe passageway to close it, seemingly sacrificing themselves. When Garrett regains consciousness, however, she finds Quasi beamed them out.
Three weeks later, the surviving team reunites, Garrett now a lieutenant commander. Control assigns them a new mission and the Baraam engages warp.
Status Report
This film is electrifying! The prologue is gripping and visually stunning, with opulent costumes and hauntingly grand sets which are reminiscent of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. It also captures the disturbing tone established during Discovery‘s first season, when Michael Burnham found herself trapped in the terrifying Mirror Universe. Though brief, this opening scene was epically memorable.
The ensemble cast is a standout feature of the film. Whereas Melle adds mystique and sensual gravitas, Fuzz provides unpredictable comic relief. Actress Kacey Rohl did a great job pulling off a young version of Rachel Garrett, who is every bit as principled (if a little uptight) as you would expect from the captain of the Enterprise-C. Quasi’s shape-shifting abilities offer clever infiltration moments, while Zeph’s sardonic edge and cyber-enhancement add a visual and narrative punch. Alok, meanwhile, grounds the team with a commanding presence and a historical weight only a former soldier of the Eugenics Wars could achieve.
Crucially, Georgiou remains the anchor. Her arc – from a tyrant forged in brutality to a reluctant ally – adds emotional heft to the narrative. Michelle Yeoh delivers a performance which balances steeliness with subtle introspection, making Georgiou a compelling antihero.
The Razzie nominations – which characterise the film as a “convoluted mess” – are not too surprising, given the wealth of good movies made in 2025, but Section 31 also had the burden and the courage to explore a universe and technology we rarely see in Trek or other sci-fi. The microscopic sentience, for example, was a surprising addition to the list of E.T.s, and the phase pod was fun to see when it came to tech and fight scenes. As far as the critique on being convoluted goes, that may be true, but it’s no worse than things like Mission: Impossible. The fusion of cyberpunk sci-fi, covert ops, and moral ambiguity makes the film feel like Star Trek crossed with Blade Runner and The Expanse.
What makes Section 31 work is not just its commitment to adrenaline-fueled action and its feisty characters, but its seamless integration of Trek lore. It honors species, history, and tech from across the franchise, while daring to forge new legends. This film is dazzling science fiction with a rebellious edge, a welcome addition to the Star Trek universe.
Jeremy Zentner is a librarian and a Star Trek addict. He has published short fiction and his novel was a finalist for the STBF Illinois Author Project. He has also written articles for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Association. He lives in rural Illinois, USA.