Ad Astra is mainly the story of a man looking for his father. Astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt) is renowned for his cool under pressure, but he labors under the inescapable shadow of his father, Dr. Cliff McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), considered the greatest in their field. When a phenomenon originating from the very edge of our solar system pulls Roy into a secret mission, his carefully cultivated detachment begins to crack.
I say that Roy's search is the main story because there's another one revealed near the end, another attempt at discovery whose conclusion elevates the movie's core message. Set in the near future, Ad Astra shows the human conquest of the expanse of space: there are commercial flights to the moon; babies are born on Mars; and Neptune, billions of miles away, is a recently visited frontier. Space Command is the organization in charge of space missions, and Roy obeys his instructions until given a reason not to. This decision prompts him to question himself and his motivations as he journeys toward confrontation.
Much like in the poem "Ithaka," in Ad Astra the journey is more important than the destination. Viewers are in for a treat, as the gorgeous visuals of space are accompanied by an uplifting yet somber score by Max Richter. Pitt is outstanding as Roy, balancing his outward hyper competence with his internal anguish to create a thoroughly sympathetic character. And though he travels to the farthest reaches of our system, his vision is consistently grounded--again, underlining the film's main theme. "We're all we've got," Roy says. Humanity has spread out across the entire solar system, and we did it together; we accomplished so much because we had each other. "Ad astra"--meaning "to the stars"--is a feat only possible through our shared visions, unity of purpose, and combined efforts. Competition also played a role, I'm sure.
As wonderful as the movie is, the science does tend to take a back seat to the storytelling. There's at least one action sequence that will annoy physics/space nerds, and I still question the point of a particular interlude with serious Reavers-from-Firefly vibes. This movie also utterly fails the Bechdel test, although at least the teams Roy interacts with aren't complete sausage fests, and Ruth Negga's character isn't just another pretty face.
The prettiest face, of course, belongs to Pitt, making two hours of Roy's sad eyes and mournful voiceover more than bearable. So in closing, here is a joke I came up with myself: Ad Astra, more like SAd Astra, amirite????
TL;DR: Beautiful, thoughtful space drama. Highly recommended!
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This post brought to you by a weeklong resurgence of summer weather! Wooo!!!
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