Moon (2009) film review - loneliness, life, and technology
★★★★★
Set in a not so distant future, ‘Moon’ follows Sam Bell, a man who is nearing the end of a 3-year contract working on the moon when he suffers an accident.
Director: Duncan ‘Zowie’ Jones. Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario. 12A cert, 95 min.
‘Moon’ is a heartfelt science fiction film with a lot to offer. It is set in a not so distant future where oil rigs on Earth have been replaced by the mining of an alternative fuel, helium-3, on the moon. Understated and relatively low budget for a sci-fi film, ‘Moon’ focuses on Sam Bell, a man who is nearing the end of his 3-year contract overseeing the technicalities of the mining process millions of miles away from home. Alone and with nobody to keep him company except a robot programmed to help him, Sam suffers an accident. What follows is a masterpiece of a film that explores the extraordinary strength of the human will to live in the face of adversary. Simultaneously bleak and uplifting, ‘Moon’ is one of those movies that is simply unforgettable.
‘Moon’ (2009) film poster artwork
The influence of 70s and 80s sci-fi films in ‘Moon’
The directorial debut from Duncan ‘Zowie’ Jones, who is none other than David Bowie’s son, ‘Moon’ almost feels like a feature-length Black Mirror episode. This is perhaps aided by the impressive realism within the film. Rather than using digital or special effects to create the lunar rovers and helium-3 harvesters shown in ‘Moon,’ Jones worked closely with prop designers from films like ‘Alien’ and ‘Outland’ to produce miniature models. In fact, Jones even used set pieces intended for an unmade movie based on the BBC TV show ‘Red Dwarf.’ The influence of 70s and 80s sci-fi films are clear in ‘Moon’ as Jones set out to make a homage to classic science fiction that film lovers like him would want to watch. He perhaps succeeded to a greater extent than he expected, making not only a film that is incredibly watchable, but one that has deeply impacted those who have seen it.
Sam Rockwell in ‘Moon’ (2009)
The astonishing impact of ‘Moon’ is testament to its nuanced portrayal of human loneliness, displayed by the stand-out performance from Sam Rockwell as the film’s protagonist. Even though this sci-fi drama takes place on the moon, it is never far from portraying real-life, everyday struggles like alienation and disconnection. With just two weeks left before he can return home to his wife and daughter, Sam appears close to losing his mind. GERTY the robot, who is voiced by Kevin Spacey, is at first comforting to Sam as he struggles with the mental toll of 3 years of isolation. With no means of live conversation with Earth and limited communication from his family, Sam begins suffering from headaches and hallucinations. His conversations with GERTY soon turn sinister after he suffers an accident in a lunar rover, and he begins to suspect that the company he works for is keeping something from him.
A stark warning about future technological advancement
Warning: contains spoilers. ‘Moon’ soon turns out to be more intelligent and complex than it first appears, and is one of many sci-fi films like ‘Ex Machina’ and ‘Blade Runner’ that appears to offer a stark warning about the moral consequences of greed and future technological advancement. However, it also subverts the ‘evil robot’ film trope and shows us that the real enemy is the corporation that Sam works for. After waking up disoriented from the lunar rover crash, GERTY allows Sam to leave the base to investigate, against the company’s direct orders. There he finds a man identical to himself in the remnants of the lunar rover crash. Taking him to the infirmary to recover, we see both men visibly perplexed, suspecting that one is the clone of the other.
Sam Rockwell delivers an exquisite performance as both Sam1 (the protagonist we meet at the start of the film who has been on the moon for almost 3 years) and Sam2 (the man who recovers the original Sam from the crash.) Rockwell’s performance, alongside a heart-rending soundtrack by Clint Mansell, is what makes ‘Moon’ such a profound display of what it is to be truly alone. The viewer eventually learns that both men are, in fact, two of many clones produced to replace one another. However, this does not lessen our sympathy towards these characters who look, act, and think like normal people. As such, ‘Moon’ challenges our perception of life and the role future technology could have in creating it.
‘Moon’ ending explained
Discovering a secret room filled with clones of the original Sam Bell, we see Sam1 dealing with the fact that his motivation for the past 3 years, his wife and child, actually belong to someone else. In fact, he learns on a video call with his daughter Eve, played by Kaya Scodelario, that his wife is now dead. And Eve is not a toddler, even though his wife Tess was pregnant with her when he left Earth. She is now a 15-year-old girl, evidence that Sam1 is not the first clone, and that many have preceded him. The escape pod that was his transport back to them is actually an incinerator, made to dispose of the latest clone so another can take its place after the 3 years are up. The extraordinary thing about ‘Moon’ is despite this, Sam1 still wants to return to Earth; because to him, it’s his home regardless of where he came from.
Too weak to carry out the escape plan Sam2 has formulated, it appears that the 3-year lifespan of Sam1 is up. But are the clones created specifically to have a 3-year lifespan, or does the radioactivity of their surroundings prevent them from living a full life? This question is never answered, and ‘Moon’ ends with Sam2 escaping in a helium-3 transport pod, having woken up a third clone to avoid detection. As a viewer, we learn that he reaches Earth through news reports on the controversial activities of Lunar Industries. What we don’t learn is whether Sam2 will live for just 3 years, or whether he will be able to live for longer on Earth. However, I don’t think this is an important takeaway. The question ‘Moon’ is urging you to ask yourself is simple, and singularly powerful. If two clones and a robot can enact more strength and humanity than the corporation that owns them, is there any hope for the future of technological advancement?
Should you watch this before you die?
Overall, ‘Moon’ is an immensely thought-provoking sci-fi drama from Duncan Jones that is evocative of retro science fiction works in its style and presentation. However, the fact that this film takes place in space is but a minor detail. ‘Moon’ is overridingly a compelling drama about loneliness and courage, with its desolate setting simply exacerbating the emotional distress of its protagonist. Showing us the immeasurable value of human life, this film is nostalgic of a type of science fiction that shouldn’t be lost or forgotten in an age of blockbuster hits like ‘Star Wars.’
If you liked ‘Moon,’ click here to read our article on the apocalyptic sci-fi drama ‘Melancholia.’