My Opinion : Ad Astra which quite exquisitely translates to “to the stars” is a 2019 science fiction film about a highly reputable astronaut (Brad Pitt) who is sent on a daring mission to retrieve and escort his father who had been a long lost member of a space operation gone terribly wrong after a series of destructive events happened on earth of catastrophic magnitudes to which the protagonists father could very well be the culprit. A number of things i’d like to go out and mention is that this is a slow burner of a movie; it takes its time to set up the characters motivation, numerous themes, world building and the principle mystery surrounding it. Theres a clash of indie arthouse and mainstream cinema in the film which I thought was very well balanced and never leaned too strongly on one side or the other. Aesthetically speaking this is the best looking and the best sounding movie of the year, and Brad Pitt knocks it out of the park with the performances honestly, it’s one of his best in years. Storytelling wise; the three acts of the film are both as good as one another and it plays out smoothly like vinyl; in the first act we are clearly shown the directors vision on how the world has changed in the not so distance future and that this is a one man movie where we explore themes of father son relations and how deep space isolation can affect the human psyche and the director executes in presenting those themes beautifully. Throughout the second act we are shown the downfall of Pitt’s character as the mystery of knowing what his father wanted, and meeting him again prompted him to do anything in his power to complete his mission (a haunting reflection of what his father had done). The tension is skillfully set up throughout with symbolic scenes such as the apes in space attacking in an unbridled rage (from isolation? Most likely a reminder of what that does to humans as we are not that different compared to our primate cousins) or the emotionally powerful recorded speech (2nd) one where we get to see how emotional Brad’s character really is (kudos to that incredible performance yet again). In the third act everything is put together and we have a short but heartwarming
Conversation between the father and son. In the end the film is deeply complex and takes its time to not only build its awe inspiring world but also to explore unique, powerful themes never really ever shown in space films. The biggest flaw the film really has is it being simply too short. If it lingered on with a couple well placed scenes to make the audience understand a little bit better the situation and the themes, I would’ve honestly considered it to be a modern masterpiece. 8.5/10