It seems only fitting that I write this review as we legitimately discover what could potentially be dubbed as another earth. It was only two days ago when NASA discovered a planet 600 light years away that had the necessary properties to sustain life, namely a surface temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. While this planet is not nearly as close to our planet as the one in director and co-writer Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, I found this coincidence to be very timely and noteworthy for those who haven’t heard this crazy news. With Fox Home Entertainment having just released the film on Blu-ray (combo pack) and DVD, now is the time to jump on the band wagon and embrace the possibility that “another earth” may actually exist.
“Rhoda Williams, a bright young woman accepted into MIT’s astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs, has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child with his loving wife. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined. Estranged from the world and the selves they once knew, the two outsiders begin an unlikely love affair and reawaken to life. But when one is presented with the chance of a lifetime opportunity to travel to the other Earth and embrace an alternative reality, which new life will they choose?”
Another Earth is a fascinating Sci-Fi drama that moves at a depressingly slow pace. The movie stars Brit Marling (who also co-wrote the film) as Rhoda, the girl whose depressing life we are following after SPOILER her drunk driving stint kills John’s (William Mapother) entire family. END SPOILER. After fast forwarding four years, Rhoda is out of prison and makes an attempt to change John’s life for the better but things take an interesting turn as a small gesture of free cleaning services evolves into something much more impactful.
This is your quintessential indie flick but what’s nice about it is the added sci-fi element which makes it more interesting for those that aren’t interested in a traumatic love story. It kind of has the same pace and feel of Primer minus the complicated and extremely fascinating time travelling story behind it. While the film revolves around the discovery and existence of Earth 2, the sci-fi element is merely a backdrop and is only used to set the film up in the first five minutes and then to wrap it all up in the final 10. We see Earth 2, we constantly hear about it, but this movie isn’t about the fact that another livable planet exists; it’s about two individuals who are completely tormented by a devastating accident and eventually find disturbing solace in each other. I believe this is why people have fallen in love with the script and the entire breakdown of events that follows Rhoda’s first encounter with John.
Mike Cahill does an excellent job making us sympathize with Rhoda when, in reality, we should despise her for being a coward and forming a relationship that goes disgustingly past the boundaries of a drunk driver’s recklessness and the reunion with her naive victim. One important aspect to this entire piece is if the end justifies the means, should one hate Rhoda for reentering John’s life as a cleaning lady or should one commend her on improving the quality of his life and bringing him out of his depression? This is the constant battle I am having with myself and why the provocative nature of the film makes it worth a watch.
As for the stars of the film, Brit Marling looks like she may have a promising career ahead of her, having not only starred in the feature and gave a performance that’s almost reminiscent of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, she proves that, along with Mike Cahill, they can make an intelligent story that the masses can embrace (or hate depending on the viewer). William
Mapother did a pretty good job as well as the recovering widower.
Unfortunately, my Blu-ray player bugged out on me so I couldn’t review the special features or watch the movie in that format. Fox did make a nice package which contains a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy. The Blu-ray features include Deleted Scenes, Music Video: “The First Time I Saw Jupiter” by Fall On Your Sword, The Science Behind Another Earth, Creating Another Earth, Fox Movie Channel presents “Direct Effect with Mike Cahill,” “In Character with Brit Marling,” and “In Character with William Mapother.” There is enough there to learn all about the filmmaking process, the philosophy of the film and how it should potentially make you feel.
Overall, Another Earth is an intelligent and thought provoking drama with the added bonus of a sci-fi element. It is a decent flick that I think will attractive a very diverse audience but it isn’t made for those who want something that moves fast. The film is deliberately slow, requires patience and will subtlety arouse various emotions out of you as it slowly edges you to the final minutes and you try and decipher how you would act if you were in Rhoda’s position
Rating: A decent yet intelligent indie sci-fi drama that’s very timely in its release (6.8/10)
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