In the distant future, humanity realizes that its time on Earth is ending. Welcome to the sci-fi astrological world of “Interstellar.” The film depicts Earth as a society of farmers plagued by dustbowls reminiscent of the 1930s. After a series of otherworldly occurrences, it is clear that humanity’s life on Earth is coming to an end.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, a widowed NASA astronaut-turned-farmer. Anne Hathaway, who portrays Amelia Brand, is one of the astronauts who, along with Cooper, embarks on a voyage through space. The film mainly focuses on these two characters, although additional cast members include such big-name stars like Jessica Chastain as Cooper’s daughter, Murphy; Michael Caine as Professor Brand; Bill Irwin, who voices a futuristic robot designed to aid in completing the mission of finding a new habitable planet named TARS and Matt Damon as Dr. Mann.
“Interstellar” focuses on what can transcend space and time. The story is a journey to find a new Earth-like planet inside of a wormhole near Saturn. Despite great risk, the astronauts search various planets in the wormhole with the assistance of homing beacons left by scientists who were sent there a decade before. Through the wormhole, the concept of time is subject to change. For example, a few hours on a particular planet may turn out to be several decades on Earth. In this sense, the film is a mixture of physics and astronomy. Back on Earth, NASA scientists are tasked with solving “the problem of gravity.” How do we take Earth’s population and transport them to another planet? The central idea of the film is perseverance, implying that humans have always survived and will find a way to endure.
But, even with great visual effects, the film is confusing with its unique and complex concepts of time and space. Certain events are paradoxical towards the end of the film, opening up the story to distractive plot holes. Admittedly, “Interstellar” starts out slow and has poor writing up until the rocket takes off. After the launch, the writing improves, though, suspense grows and the minds of the audience open to fully absorb the stunning visuals and cool special effects.
The driving force of this film is movement and adaptability. As humans, we keep moving and we adapt. After a slow start and a giant leap, “Interstellar” is a thought-provoking emotional drama, a story of human perseverance and a human characteristic that cannot be measured by scientific experiments: hope.
