A Beautiful and Thought-Provoking Spectacle

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2020)

"After you kids came along, your mom, she said something to me I never quite understood. She said, 'Now, we're just here to be memories for our kids.' I think now I understand what she meant."
Before I begin, I have to say how special this movie is to me. Back in 2014, when I first saw this, I had never seen anything like it. Flash forward five years - I'm now somewhat obsessed with film and film history, and that still has not changed. I had never before been completely captivated by a movie from start to finish. It was an emotional and immersive experience that I've never forgotten. But most importantly, this film was a wonder; it was as if it contained all the mystery of the universe within it.
What do I mean by that exactly? Interstellar does not solve any universal mysteries, and at times does not even make scientific sense. But Interstellar captures perfectly the feeling of the child inside of everyone that looks up and wonders, "what's out there?" We see outer space in spectacular glory, but we are only able to scrape the surface of what these marvels really are. We see the way time works, but do we fully understand it? We see the most accurate depiction of a black hole ever created, but it still remains shrouded in mystery. The characters must deal with phenomena that we have attempted to comprehend, but possibly never will. It's one of the only movies where the phrase "anything can happen" truly applies. And this glimpse into a tiny fraction of the possibilities of our universe is one of the most awe-inspiring and thought-provoking pieces of science fiction filmmaking I've ever seen.
This film certainly goes for spectacle in many instances, with worlds and spatial phenomena brought to life by some of the most beautiful special effects ever put to screen. Not to mention the incredible haunting score from Hans Zimmer. But at its heart, this is the story of a father who needs to keep his promise to his daughter. "I love you forever. And I'm coming back. I'm coming back." It is a human story that also happens to transcend space and time. The question of "Will Cooper be able to save the world?" is secondary to "Will Cooper keep his promise?" This human element is what differentiates this film from something like 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the story of Cooper and Murph. Every movie has an essential question, and this one's is "Will they ever see each other again?" And somehow, I've never been more desperate to learn the answer.
The greatest film Christopher Nolan has made and will ever make.