Interstellar

Original Rating: 5/5 It's crazy how I haven't seen this film in over two years, and yet it still makes me cry, every, single, time. I knew eventually through my rewatch of Christopher Nolan's filmography (in preparation for his upcoming film, *The Odyssey), I'd eventually encounter what is deemed to be the greatest achievement of his career, 2014's Interstellar*. It's a film that goes beyond what one could imagine a film could be and takes the audience for such a ride, there's a chance nothing else in cinema history, and cinema future, could come close to it. But instead about gushing about this film vaguely, let me outline specifically the reasons this film stands out. First of all, I think a reason I love this film so much is because of its inclusion and immersion into the concepts of astrophysics that have questioned scientists for ages. As someone who is pursuing an education in the field of astrophysics, this is endlessly fascinating and has gripped me into adoring this film since the first time I saw it. Obviously, I know that not all of the physics concepts explored in this film are accurate, but Nolan (with the help of legendary physicist, Kipp Thorne) keeps it pretty damn close to what we know, or can at least predict, in the science community about wormholes, the fabric of spacetime, time dilation, and many more complex ideas in the field of astrophysics. Moreover, I endlessly admire Nolan's commitment to including the difficult and the confusing of scientific knowledge in this film because it makes the film so, so rich and all the more real. A problem I often have with films that call themselves science-fiction is that they don't follow science in any way, such as many Marvel films, and merely add a bunch of random science-y buzzwords to trick the common audience into believing the fantasy they dub as science. On the other hand, the films that do bide by the laws of science and the theories within the scientific community often find themselves overwhelmed by taking on complex subjects and end up using high school science to define the plot, for example *Project Hail Mary (2026), a film that has been dubbed by some people lacking taste in art, as "better than Interstellar". My point is, Interstellar* and Nolan in general isn't afraid of going past 'high school science' and that's why this film feels so real, so passionate, and so much better than other science films that attempt to reach this films greatness but ultimately fail in the end. Secondly, a film is nothing without it's performances and my god, does this film hold a powerhouse of multiple, award-worthy actors who give nothing but their best. Obviously, Matthew McConaughey claims the role of Best Actor in this film because he's undoubtedly given the most emotional and all commanding performance, but I think a lot of credit should be given to both Jessica Chastain, and the young actress who plays young Murph, Mackenzie Foy. A lot of the reasons I cried in this film were because of the brilliant writing and the utterly devastating predicament that the characters are left in, but it's the actors' jobs to make that predicament feel as raw and real and hurtful as possible and Foy, being so young during the time of filming, delivers just that—a performance worthy of an Oscar and the audiences tears. Anne Hathaway is also just excellent in this and it makes me all the more excited to see her performance in The Odyssey, which—even though I'm yet to see it—I think will win her the Best Actress award at this upcoming Oscars. Her on-screen father, Michael Caine, obviously delivers a similarly powerful and surprisingly emotional performance as Professor Brandt, but the performance that surprised me the most in this whole film, the performance that I didn't remember being so good and yet impressed me nonetheless this time around, was given by none other than the titular actor in the upcoming The Odyssey, Matt Damon. He is just the most infuriating presence in this film by far, and I know everyone loves to talk about how we all love to hate Matt Damon in Interstellar, but he really earns that hate. Maybe it's because as someone who's watched this film at least three times before, I know what a disgusting coward his character is, so every line from his mouth is like an insult, but regardless of all that, I think he really does give the best performance because I genuinely forgot it was the endlessly lovable Matt Damon on screen and saw this selfish, evil bastard named Dr. Mann, instead. I know his role as Odysseus is a very different kind of role, but I know he'll bring the same effort and passion to that role, which ultimately makes me even more excited for the upcoming film. Thirdly, there's the cinematography. While I think Nolan deserves praise for the intellectual cinematography of his earlier films like *The Prestige (2006), and Batman Begins (2005), Interstellar changes everything and is the first of his films to deliver the sleek and gorgeous shot design that we've come to associate Nolan with. Maybe this is when he partnered with his loyal cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, but whatever it is, this film looks beautiful in every way. The way he shoots (or animates) every aspect of space made me fall in love with the beauty of the universe all over again and made me feel that familiar tug in my heart—the desire to orient a telescope to the beautiful clear sky and just watch the magic of the universe take place, right from my home. Moreover, something I've been taking note of as I watch all of Nolan's films is how he shoots the ocean, as it is an incredibly important aspect of Homer's The Odyssey, and so far, after 2017's Dunkirk, and now Interstellar* (the two of his films I've seen so far that feature the ocean at scale), I couldn't think of a better director to capture Homer's epic tale in his lens because Nolan just understands the scale, horror, and unweilding force of water, and Poseidon in Greek mythology. Finally, we come to the reason this film is worth anything at all. Guillermo Del Toro has a great quote that I often think about: "Plot is the least important part of a movie", and that's because heart is; heart is the most important part of a movie... and my god does this film have a heart. The whole concept of love being a binding force throughout the universe, stronger than any other force known to humankind is something that gets me every single time I watch this, but not just through Brandt's explanation of it. In fact, it gets to me because of Murph and Coop, and no one else. I think I cried like three different times throughout this film—and I don't just mean welling up with tears, too... I mean full-on tears running down cheeks, sinking into my skin... it was intense. I really don't think I've cried that much before for a movie, but I guess that just goes to show what a phenomenal film Interstellar truly is and why it will go down as the greatest space movie of all time... maybe even the greatest movie of all time. Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space. Nolan Ranked Timothée Chalamet Ranked Matt Damon Ranked IB Level: 7+ 5/5 **11 July 2026 chymp**