With the new space thriller “Slingshot” hitting theaters, and the news that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be stuck on the International Space Station until February 2025, space is on the brain. Specifically, long stretches of time spent in space, and the loneliness that idea conjures. It’s a well that filmmakers have returned to again and again, to explore ideas of the human condition and what happens in these circumstances. So here’s a few films to explore on streaming that wrestle with the idea of being alone in space.
The first one to come to mind is Duncan Jones’ 2009 indie thriller “Moon,” starring Sam Rockwell as a man who spends three years alone mining helium on the far side of the moon. Written by Nathan Parker, who also co-wrote “Slingshot,” from a story by Jones, Rockwell’s character starts to suffer a mental crisis from hallucinations. This memorable and resonant indie sci-fi rests entirely on the strength of Rockwell’s performance and Jones’ direction. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
Two years prior to “Moon,” Danny Boyle directed “Sunshine,” written by Alex Garland, a bleak ensemble piece about a team of space travelers who try to save the Earth by reviving the sun, and the team that goes after them seven years later. The film sports an all-star cast of Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada and Mark Strong. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” (2013) took the idea of alone in space to the extreme, with this anxiety-inducing thriller in which two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, float off into the depths of space, tethered only to each other, after a space walk gone wrong. It won seven Oscars, including best director for Cuarón. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
