3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for thematic elements, profanity and dramatic intensity
By Derrick Bang
Science-fiction films come in several distinct flavors.
Hollywood delights in the most obvious end of the spectrum: the flamboyant space operas filled with ray guns, robots and other ostentatious hardware. Think Star Wars
. At the other extreme, we have quieter stories that employ futuristic what-ifs solely as a backdrop to the primary character drama. Cliff Robertson's Academy Award-winning turn in 1968's Charly
comes to mind here. |
| Rhoda (Brit Marling), a young woman desperately trying to flee the mess she has made of her life, wonders if some sort of solution might be offered by the mysterious, newly discovered planet that is revealed to be increasingly Earth-like, as the weeks and months pass. |
The latter type always intrigue me, particularly those not immediately recognized as science fiction.
While Fox Searchlight is marketing Another Earth to capitalize on its sci-fi trappings, director Mike Cahill's thoughtful indie drama actually is a study of guilt, and whether any act of atonement is possible in the wake of an unforgivable act. Cahill co-wrote the story with Brit Marling, who also stars. The film took two awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and it's easy to see why; Cahill and Marling quietly weave a staggering futuristic element into a primarily real-world drama, which leads to an unexpectedly clever denouement.
That said, their film is slow, at times almost leaden. Aside from brief encounters with incidental people, this is primarily a two-character piece without much dialogue. Marling and co-star William Mapother are expected to convey a lot of emotion and anguish via body language and facial expression, and neither has the subtle acting chops to pull that off at all times. Quite often, yes, but not consistently.
Additionally, the film's low-budget origins work against it. Cahill also handles the cinematography and editing, and his cheap, grainy film stock does him no favors. While he might argue that the bland, washed-out color palette is an intentional artistic decision intended to convey his protagonist's drab, day-to-day existence, the inadequate lighting and washed-out visuals are distracting ... and they pull us out of the story.
We meet Rhoda Williams (Marling) as a bright teen giddy over having just been accepted into MIT's astrophysics program. She celebrates this triumph at a party and then unwisely drives home. Distracted further by a startling announcement on the car radio — the discovery of another planet near Earth — Rhoda leans out the window to scan the night sky ... while still driving.
The collision is inevitable, and entirely her fault. She destroys the family in the other vehicle, putting the driver into a coma and killing his pregnant wife and their young child.
Cahill handles this sequence with admirable restraint, allowing us to fill in the details as Rhoda stands, aghast, unable to comprehend what she has done. She cannot move, and as the sound of sirens rises in the background, Marling deftly conveys, without words, this young woman's realization that her bright future has been snuffed out like the lives she has just taken.
Four years pass, in a single black text card.
