~ by Rebecca Fisher

Directed by Mike Cahill and starring William Mapother and Brit Marling, perhaps the most notable thing about independent sci-fi film Another Earth is how limited its budget was. Shot around the director’s hometown so that he could call in favours from his friends and family, and using his own childhood home as the main character’s house, a number of innovative ideas were utilized to keep expenses down. One particular shot, which required a character to exit a prison, was achieved by the actress posing as a yoga instructor to get on the premises, and then promptly leaving again.

Yet for all of this economizing, the cast and crew of After Earth manage to deliver a fascinating, unpredictable and often beautiful film.

Rhoda Williams is seventeen, has just been accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and anticipates a shining future ahead of her. After a night of celebrating she’s a little tipsy when she gets into her car, and is distracted by an announcement on the radio that claims astronomers have just discovered another planet visible from Earth.

Trying to stare out of the window at the small blue speck in the night sky, she crashes headlong into another car. A child and a pregnant woman are instantly killed and the husband/father is left in a coma.

Four years later Rhoda’s released from prison to learn that the planet is not only closer, but that more discoveries about it have been made. It can support life, astronomers are picking up radio signals, and there’s telescopic evidence of cities and other man-made structures on its surface.

There’s even a chance to visit what’s been dubbed “Earth Two” thanks to a competition funded by a millionaire entrepreneur organizing a civilian flight. All anyone has to do is write an essay explaining exactly why they want to go.

The appeal is obvious enough for someone like Rhoda: another Earth, another chance.

Rhoda checks out Earth Two via telescope

But then she tracks down the man whose wife and child she killed; a composer called John Burroughs who has finally woken up from his coma and is struggling with depression. She goes to his house to confess, only to lose her nerve at the last moment and pose as a cleaning girl.

As she inadvertently grows closer to the man whose life she destroyed, more information is divulged about the mysterious second Earth. In the possibilities it poses, perhaps she can find forgiveness…

As with Safety Not Guaranteed, this film is more about how people react to a bizarre situation than the situation itself, and Another Earth is just as much about grief and guilt as it is the sci-fi premise. In fact, everything to do with Earth Two is kept on the periphery of the story, conveyed through radio announcements and television broadcasts, as well as the sight of the new planet lingering in the sky of nearly every exterior shot.

Earth Two in the sky

Another Earth instead focuses on the intertwining lives of two damaged people and leaves you with more questions than answers. But those questions are intoxicating, and the closing scene is certain to play on your mind for days to come.
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Next Time: The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Last year an entire three months were devoted to some of the more famous offerings from Studio Ghibli and master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Yet in recent years some of their films have made less of a splash, though are no less enjoyable or beautiful – such as The Tale of Princess Kaguya.
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About The Reviewer:

Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com and her They’re All Fictional blog.

To read Rebecca’s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, as well as preceding reviews, click on:

Big Worlds On Small Screens

Rebecca is also currently a finalist for the Sir Julius Vogel Award 2015 for “Best Fan Writing”, to be announced at Easter.