The best science fiction tells stories about people in extraordinary environments or situations that serve to open up the vast, still largely unexplored terrain of the human heart. Mike Cahill's Another Earth is science fiction at its best.
Out there, to say the least, but rescued from risibility by its well-matched lead performances and crazy low-budget ambition.
63
Slant MagazineJesse Cataldo
Slant MagazineJesse Cataldo
The hanging specter of a phantom planet puts a lot of pressure on Another Earth, a resolutely small parable of grief that often feels menaced by its big-idea concept.
40
Village Voice
Village Voice
Unable to organically incorporate their Big Ideas into the narrative, the filmmakers lazily lay them on top, leaving the exposition of Another Earth's structuring fantasy to a blanket of background voiceover.
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's one of those stultifying aftermath-of-
a-car-crash movies.