An Excellent Action Thriller With No Violence & Simple Plot. Recommended.

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2018)

Alfonso Cuaron did a remarkable job in making a space action thriller that doesn't require a life and death situation with aliens or robots, instead crafting a simple story of things that go wrong really bad, really fast. The main attraction of the film is the excellent cinematography, the clever use of sound and silence, as well as the competent performances by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
The plot is brilliantly uncomplicated, so much so that telling it to you won't even be spoiler. While our heroes are in orbit installing some thingamajig for NASA, Russia shot their satellite which exploded into shrapnel traveling faster than a speeding bullet orbiting the earth, causing a catastrophic chain reaction. Watching Bullock and Clooney scrambling to avert one disaster to another and find a way back onto earth, is surprisingly thoroughly engaging.
Cuaron even manages to fill in some human elements into the story by having Bullock's character Dr Ryan Stone, recount her life back on earth without being contrived. George Clooney does an admirable performance as the cool-headed Lieutenant Kowalski who guides Dr Stone to safety.
Overall, a really really good film. Recommended.