Gravity

***Gravity*** is a 2013 science fiction thriller film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who also co-wrote, co-edited and produced the film. It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their Space Shuttle, and their attempt to return to Earth. The film opened the 70th Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2013, and had its North American premiere three days later at the Telluride Film Festival.

## Plot

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission. Her commander is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), helming his last flight before retirement. Then, during a routine spacewalk by the pair, disaster strikes: The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Ryan and Matt stranded in deep space with no link to Earth and no hope of rescue. As fear turns to panic, they realize that the only way home may be to venture further into space.

## Why It Doesn't Let Go

1. Extremely beautiful and dazzling cinematography. This makes you feel like you're really in outer space when you watch this in a dark room and manages to pull the viewer into the movie's world. It also manages to feel as non-claustrophobic as possible.
	* Because of the cinematography, the film looks like it was filmed in outer space, giving in more realism.
2. The visual effects are extremely realistic and convincing, as it was all converted into 3D. Overall, it's CGI and 3D done right.
3. Wonderful performance from Sandra Bullock. She manages to convince the viewer into making them think she's an astronaut. George Clooney gives off a great performance too.
4. The film really makes the viewer emotional as Dr. Ryan is clueless on what to do in space.
5. It manages to show how dangerous a space mission can really be and how it's hard to be in outer space. It also shows that you really don't want to get lost in space.
6. Its opening scene that shows a brightly lit Earth and ending with the astronauts' spaceship being destroyed.
7. There are a ton of suspenseful and frightening moments in the movie, which is what makes it so phenomenal.
8. Along with the suspenseful moments, there are some emotional and dramatic moments too, such as when Ryan and Kowalski are attached to each other so that they can get to the ISS together, and they're talking about their lives on Earth while Kowalski plays some music on his radio.
9. The triumphant Steven Price's musical score that's really fitting with the scenes.
10. The power of hope is boundless; it can push through the darkness and propel you to survive. That is the film's main message, and it's a positive one too.

## The Only Bad Quality

1. The scientific inaccuracies were criticized by many. Even though it manages to pull the viewer into space, it still gets certain stuff wrong about it.

## Reception

Gravity was met with widespread critical acclaim, with praise towards its direction and visuals and is considered one of the best films of 2013. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 96% based on 340 reviews, and an average rating of 8.99/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Alfonso Cuarón's *Gravity* is an eerie, tense sci-fi thriller that's masterfully directed and visually stunning." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out based on reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 96 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", making it the second-highest scoring widely released film of its year.

## Trivia

* Angelina Jolie was originally cast as Ryan, but dropped out later. Natalie Portman turned down the role shortly after her pregnancy was announced. Abbie Cornish, Marion Cotillard, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Carey Mulligan, Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, and Olivia Wilde were also considered.