ANOTHER EARTH (2011), A Thinker's Sci-Fi Film

I finally got to see Another Earth on TV ad I wasn't disappointed. But even though it seems like a sci-fi flick, it's more of a story of personal issues with a sci-fi backdrop. It's written and directed by Mike Cahill, while co-written by Brit Marling.

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"In ANOTHER EARTH, Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), a bright young woman accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother), has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child.

On that eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined.

On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident."

The film is a Fox Searchlight film, and they tend to put out some great indie films. At least, historically, they did, prior to the Disney takeover.

The film starts out, that while driving under the influence and looking at the new second Earth that suddenly appeared in far orbit around Earth, Rhoda (Brit Marling) ends up running into a car and killing the family of John Burroughs (William Mapother).

Four years later when she gets out of prison, she finds herself trying to find closure for what she did, or, redemption, giving both her and John a chance to return to some kind of normal life after the tragedy.

But her journey to right her own wrongs takes a crazy and delirious path, making you wonder, WTF are you doing girl!?

While we follow their story, the presence of the second or Another Earth, fills in the gaps of the film, as society is looking to deal with what this new mirror Earth really is. But much like the 2010 film, Monsters, from Gareth Edwards, where the giant alien monsters were a backdrop to the story, so too, is the second Earth in this film  But it's done well enough to be the perfect, curious filler content.

All in all, Another Earth is a personal story of redemption that grips your curiosity and keeps you engaged. Especially when you slide to the edge of your seat, waiting to see where they go with the other Earth story. Marling keeps you fascinated by her plight while Mapother's role is quite perfect for him.

And the ending... is mildly sublime.

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