Ad Astra
Films that feature protagonists who go into space to investigate are a hit-and-miss business, and the reason is probably that the hit is called 2001 A Space Odyssey. That film was followed by its novel, by Arthur C Clarke of course, which was followed by several sequels—but only 2010 was filmed and is a niche film rather than a cult hit. These films are exploring people, and space is simply the setting because… well we’ve discovered the surface of the planet and travelling around it is not much of a challenge. As a civilisation we have reached the point where stirring films about exploring space—from The Right Stuff to Apollo 13 have said all that needs to be said, and First Man has turned the Apollo 11 mission into an exploration of a man and his family. So Ad Astra is in a crowded space, a space that’s clearly not infinite. In Ad Astra there’s the family stuff: Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) confronts the loss of contact with his father, Clifford, who’s far away from Earth ...