Film Review: ‘Another Earth’ Reflects on Nature of Existence

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CHICAGO – “Another Earth” is a delicate movie. The emotions, atmosphere and philosophy feels like the whole thing could shatter at any moment, that’s how balanced it is on the edge of tomorrow. Through Brit Marling’s screenplay and performance, the very nature of who we are is questioned.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

The film uses a monumental cosmic event as the backdrop for the pure tragedy of seeking a forgiveness that probably can never come. By reflecting another earth back at us, it also serves as a mirror to reality. How would we react if the nature of our existence is proven to be a reflective illusion? Would we become brave and bold, or collapse into a fetal position, desperate to get back to the egg?

Rhoda (Brit Marling) is a happy-go-lucky 17 year old, on her way to MIT on a astrophysics scholarship. She over celebrates her good fortune at a party, on the same night that scientists have found a new planet in the solar system. She drives home drunk, mesmerized by the little blue dot she sees above her. This distraction makes her miss a stop light, and she plows into another car.

Inside the other car is John, a musician and father. He suffers from head trauma that puts him into a coma, and his wife and child are dead. The trial against Rhoda is swift and she is sentenced to prison. John never knows who perpetuated the accident, for his prolonged coma and sealed court records (because Rhoda is a minor) obscures the identity. Meanwhile, the blue dot in the sky is coming closer to earth and becomes more defined.

Rhoda is released from her sentence after four years, then isolates herself in her parent’s home. She takes menial work as a school janitor, and shows interest in a billionaire’s plan to sponsor ordinary citizens on a manned mission to the new planet. The orb now resembles earth, and first communications to it reveal some shocking revelations.

Rhoda decides to reach out to her accident victim John, now embittered and holed up in his home. Pretending to be a maid, she infiltrates his life, cleaning up the physical and emotional mess. The approaching earth doesn’t distract from this redemptive mission, and their togetherness sparks a hope of love.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Another Earth”

Rhoda and John: Brit Marling and William Mapother in ‘Another Earth’ Photo credit: © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Another Earth”