Terrifyingly Real.

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2018)

Moon (2009).

Chipper F. Xavier, Esq.

Sam Bell (Rockwell) is a one-person mine operator employed by The Company on the far side of the moon in the year 2035. With a mission plan of three years, Sam is scheduled to return to earth in two weeks. As the time for his departure nears, Sam suffers a catastrophic accident which reveals a deeper, more sinister plan by The Company to keep Sam from ever returning to
earth.
Writer-director Duncan Jones (Source Code, Warcraft: The Beginning) with writer Nathan Parker craft a terrifying tale which is set, directed and acted like a major motion picture event. Surprisingly, the sole actor to appear onscreen is Sam Rockwell, and the film is even more stunning because of it.
All of the set pieces when taken together deliver an effective seventies feel, and the robotic assistant GERTY, voiced by Kevin Spacey, has a quaint and realistic appearance. Despite its modest budget of 5 million dollars, Moon comes off as a much more expensive film.
The real surprise of Moon is not Sam Rockwell's skill in carrying the movie on his sizable shoulders, nor is it in the effective way dialog is utilized. Moon's greatest achievement is in normalizing dehumanizing behavior by corporations, and in so doing it forces the audience to bear witness to the atrocity.
What does it mean to be alive? What responsibilities does mankind have in safeguarding living creatures? Who, or what do we classify as a human being? Moon's answers may shock you, but in our examination of the human condition, life can never be taken for granted.
For these reasons, Moon is a cinematic masterpiece: With just a handful of actors, Duncan Jones manages to capture the hidden meaning of our existence - and all we have to do is watch, reflect and learn.