Science fiction isn’t dead, it just hasn’t been seriously attempted in recent years. But in 2009, two exceptional sci-fi movies were released, one of them was “Moon”. Suprisingly smart, precise, wondrous to watch, especially for being a low-budget independent film. Read on to see my review.
“Moon” focuses on just one man, Sam Bell, as he runs a moon base of automatic harvesters that seek out Helium-3, a compound used to supply much of the world’s needed energy. Sam’s assignment is three years of solitary work, keeping the moon base operational and sending back shipments of Helium-3 after the harvesting machines collect it. He misses his wife, who has waited patiently for Sam to return.
As Sam nears his three year mission’s end, he starts to fall apart. He sees people that aren’t there, and GERTY, his robotic companion, starts to worry for him. But one dangerous and near-deadly day, Sam finds that he is not alone. Where did this new character come from?
“Moon”, like all good sci-fi, is a fantasy story / morality play. There’s a moral to this story, while I won’t give away the plot, I will give the moral away- our memories of “better days” are never as accurate and true as we think they are. We wish to go back and experience the “happiness” and “near-perfect life” we thought we had…but did it ever truly exist? When Sam says “I want to go home”, and then realizes that he can’t, well… it broke my heart. I feel for the guy, and partially myself, because as hard as it can be, life is about pressing onward.