An absorbing psychological sci-fi drama...

Rating: Null/10 (18 August 2009)

I had accepted I wouldn't be able to see this, as it was on limited release, but luckily, I found out a cinema about 45 mins away by bus way but it had only one showing at 8:30pm so I decided to go.
The film begins with a ad showing a montage of children, space and how power from the moon can be used, I think. Then the film begins proper with Sam's solitary mission on the planet itself.
Acting: Rockwell is convincing and believable as this lone astronaut. He single-handedly makes the film compelling as it is he we watch over the majority of the running time, which is no easy feat. A small cameo from Scodelario (Skins' Effy) who speaks with a very dodgy American accent pulled me slightly out of the spell the film had put me under, but her acting in that brief scene was fine. I only had problems with the accent.
Plot: Obviously inspired from 70s sci-fi such as Alien, Silent Running et al so it's probably not doing anything original but in a year where sci-fi hasn't been that cerebral, it's nice to see a film that resembles the more old school sci-fi, made on a low budget.
The main twist in it could split audiences down the middle, though. Personally, I thought it better to do it the way they did as the other way to do it has been done to death. I'm being as vague as possible so as not to give anything away, as I know from experience that spoilers that aren't warned from the outset are very unfair on unknowing people.
Cinematography and SFX: For a low budget film, this certainly in my eyes has a polished look about it that doesn't betray it's modest budget. The sets, costumes, dust falling in the air etc don't look out of place to a more expensive film, to my untrained eyes. The shots look beautiful and I'd love to own a framed still of the surface of the moon from this film.
I especially liked the emoticon faced robot voiced by Spacey. He seemed to nail the disembodied, somewhat emotionless voice needed for such a machine.
Score: Mansell, whose Lux Aerterna from Requiem For A Dream has been so overused over the past decade to make sure the royalties he's got to be receiving will almost certainly keep his many future generations rich or at least comfortable makes a haunting, piano-led with strings(in some tracks) minimalist score that fits the film like a glove.
Overall: I couldn't take my eyes off the big screen when I saw this. With an acting masterclass from Rockwell, this promising debut shows what sci-fi used to do before directors saw it as an excuse to showcase the newest advances in CGI.
Shall be getting it on DVD/BD to watch it an infinite number of times to pick up things I missed, as this is one that needs numerous watches to fully understand and appreciate.