After a series of cosmic power surges threaten to wipe out life as we know it, an astronaut undertakes a space mission in the hope of stopping them but also finding his father, who was considered long gone.
I might not have read reviews before writing mine, but I happened to read Ad Astra’s on a Sunday night, right after the film came out. They were horrible – shockingly bad, claiming that the film fails on every front. The titles alone were hilarious. So, what did I do? I packed it up on the spot, went to the last screening, and watched it. I hadn’t even watched the trailer. So…
The film itself is not nearly as bad as people make it to be. Potential issues might include the following: We, the audience, do not really experience either the surges or their aftermath. Through the news, we can see a number that thousands have died, and this is it. Therefore, the actual reason why Brad Pitt goes to space is heavily focused on his issue with his father and partially on his ex leaving him. He doesn’t seem to care at all about the fact that thousands have died and that the future of the Earth and the rest of the solar system solely burdens him. Yes, the second act is slow, but this merely means nothing. To me, the film’s biggest problem lies in the third act. I could thoroughly elaborate on why, but my reviews are spoiler-free, so you are more than welcome to comment when you watch it. Sources claim that director James Gray had to compromise his ending for the studio to give the green light. It makes me wonder how his finale would be.
None of these issues, though, justify the horrendous reviews. I watched the trailer afterwards and looked into a few production details. As with the film’s ending, the studio caused the biggest damage. The trailer had no idea how to promote the film. Subsequently, people thought that they were going to the movies to watch this year’s Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), or The Martian (2015) – which again would pose an issue as not too many people would want to watch another Matt Damon rescue. To cut a long story short, the audience was given the wrong impression and went there with false expectations. Maybe things would have been different if it had been marketed as Solaris (2002). See the poster above as well. It is as if seeing close-ups of Brad Pitt for two hours is not enough; he must be staring at us before we enter the theatre. Oh, and read the tagline and weep.
I would like to conclude by saying that the slow editing paces the film’s rhythm as it was initially intended, Max Richter’s music is superb, Brad Pitt expresses Roy’s emptiness perfectly, and last but not least, Ruth Negga, as always, every time she makes an on-screen appearance, mesmerises.
I don’t regret being alone in the whole theatre watching it. Knowing nothing beforehand, I perceived Ad Astra as an existential journey to the vast loneliness of space, which can only be outmatched by the vast loneliness of our souls.
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