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Courtesy of The Clause


This almost unbearably suspenseful, science fiction space drama created by director Alfonso Cuarón, showcases Cuarón’s talent while actor George Clooney and actress Sandra Bullock portray believable characters which throughout the film.

Director Alfonso Cuarón uses his love for lengthy film takes to create a masterpiece of suspense that flows effortlessly as it chronicles the dangers of a routine mission gone awry for a team of veteran astronauts Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, and medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock.

The cinematography switches from third-person perspectives to the intensity of Dr. Stone, then back into third person, with close-up angled shots that give the viewer a limited view of the surroundings. This only heightens emotions in this nonstop survivor-thriller.

The plot is extremely realistic as far as fictional space movies go. The film explores what astronauts would have to go through if completely cut off from mission control in their attempts to reach safety in trying get back to Earth with impending doom on the horizon. The audience is left breathless in journeying with the characters in their hazardous hardships.

The film references previous space and science-fiction movies with motifs of rebirth that harken back to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” as Bullock’s character floats in a space station, curling into fetal position with tubes in the background resembling umbilical cords, echoing the Star Child imagery of “A Space Odyssey”. After crashing, Stone swims to the surface in a body of water back on Earth and struggles to take her first steps as a reborn child there.

The film features Ed Harris as the voice of Mission Control, referencing his role as Flight Commander Gene Kranz in “Apollo 13,” and a patch on a space suit with the number 42, possibly referencing “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” as an answer to the “ultimate question” and the meaning of life. This could be tied back to Stone’s search for her will to live.

The soundtrack captured the suspense and immense size of space while heightening the emotions of fear and desolation the characters experience. “Gravity” will give audiences the closest experience to being in space, and in danger, for that matter, on a screen while providing a satisfying plot complete with a complex and yet simple story that is guaranteed to pull you into an emotional roller coaster and take your breath away.

Runtime: 100 mins

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris