Hattie

I loved this. A LOT. I’m super glad I was able to watch it in the cinema (on a whim, might I add) because it’s so clear that this is the sort of film that deserves that environment. I had seen quite literally no advertisement media for the film (except the poster obvs) before going in so I was quite excited to be completely surprised. I won’t lie, I was skeptical at the start. Ryan Gosling would not be my first pick for someone who has to straddle both comedy and deep emotions (I’m sure this is an unfair assessment and I know he’s a brilliant actor, but whenever I see him in anything, I always find that he comes across exceptionally well in comedic moments, and yet fails to feel sincere in more serious moments), and I think the film took a while to establish that binary (I feel like a lot of the genuine fear, horror, anger etc was stripped away in parts for the sake of the 12A rating). My only other main niggle (aside from all the silly arguments filling my sci-fi adoring brain) is the communication between Rocky and Grace. The translator dialogue often felt very sloppy in terms of the linguistic complexity of Rocky’s speech. As well as this, we’re given no indication as to how Rocky can understand Grace so simply. It’s a very one-sided learning experience (helped of course by the computer), and the film only ever attempts to demonstrate small examples of untranslatability for emotive effect (of course I understand the constraints of a film, but given the extreme ingenuity proven throughout, I think a solution could have been found for this). Despite what is making out to be quite a critical review… this film was beautiful. It had all the heart and hopefulness that sci fi so often fails to attain. The interpersonal relationships were phenomenal across the board, performances were on top form, and after what I described as a slightly unsteady start comedy-wise, my entire cinema was cackling constantly, whether it be because the iconic Mark and Grace duo, or just Rocky being Rocky.  I also loved the discovery that Grace was coerced into the mission. It justifies his entire manner of being on the spaceship, his decisions in later parts of the film, and doesn’t betray the character we’ve got to know one bit. I for one blame neither party in that horrifying decision - it was clear that Grace was the ‘saving grace’ for the planet, with no one else suitable for the role, but it was also clear that Grace had no autonomy in the situation, and was being asked to kill himself, a decision no one can take lightly. I sat there mouth agape for a while after the revelation… it was tough to watch, but truly added immense depth to the film. Ok I’ve kinda tired myself out of ideas of what to write now so I’ll leave it at that - great film, very cute, very intelligent, and just the sort of stuff we as the audience really want to see :)

Now I understand the references to Gwyneth’s head…

So cute 🥹🥹

I can’t breathe oh my gosh. On a side note, Billie looked so tired at the end 😭😭 I can only imagine what that sort of performance takes out of you