What to stream: Take a lonely space walk with these sci-fi movies
With the new space thriller “Slingshot” hitting theaters, and the news that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be stuck on the International Space Station until February , space is on the brain. Specifically, long stretches of time spent in space, and the loneliness that idea conjures. It’s a well that filmmakers have returned to again and again, to explore ideas of the human condition and what happens in these circumstances. So here are a few films to explore on streaming that wrestle with the idea of being alone in space.
The first one to come to mind is Duncan Jones’ 2009 indie thriller “Moon,” starring Sam Rockwell as a man who spends three years alone mining helium on the far side of the moon. Written by Nathan Parker, who also co-wrote “Slingshot,” from a story by Jones, Rockwell’s character starts to suffer a mental crisis from hallucinations. This memorable and resonant indie sci-fi rests entirely on the strength of Rockwell’s performance and Jones’ direction. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
Two years prior to “Moon,” Danny Boyle directed “Sunshine,” written by Alex Garland, a bleak ensemble piece about a team of space travelers that tries to save the Earth by reviving the sun, and the team that goes after them seven years later. The film sports an all-star cast of Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada and Mark Strong. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” (2013) took the idea of alone in space to the extreme, with this anxiety-inducing thriller in which two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, float off into the depths of space, tethered only to each other, after a space walk gone wrong. It won seven Oscars, including best director for Cuarón. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.
Clooney also starred in Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 film “Solaris,” about a psychologist sent to investigate the crew of a research station orbiting a strange planet (available for rent on iTunes or Amazon). This version is a remake of the 1972 movie by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, known for his mysterious and bleak films. Watch the original on Max or Criterion Channel.
James Gray also used the sci-fi setting of space for the intimate drama “Ad Astra” starring Brad Pitt in 2019. This film follows an astronaut looking for his father, seeking answers about his life and death in space, and finding some degree of closure. Rent “Ad Astra” on iTunes or Amazon.
The 2021 Netflix film “Stowaway” by Joe Penna starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim and Shamier Anderson features a small crew heading to space before their trip is jeopardized by an unexpected passenger aboard. Stream in on Netflix.
Finally, Gabiela Cowperthwaite’s 2024 film “I.S.S.” stars Ariana Debose as a young astronaut who enters a group of long-residing American and Russian space travelers and discovers international tensions that split down group lines. Stream it on Paramount+, Showtime or rent it on iTunes or Amazon.