Another Earth

A sad, tragic, yet beautiful story that takes its time and leaves you thinking, crying, wondering...

Firstly, the directing, the acting, it's all solid as could be. The main actress, Brit, is a severely underrated actress who I feel has so much in her expressions that I'm seriously in astonishment I haven't seen her rise to Oscar level performances in some of the best movies being made these days. What happened to her and why isn't she being cast in like every movie? Anyways, her expression, her ability to act, was just what really carried the movie for me.

Aside from her excellent acting, the story was hard hitting. Every move she made, every decision she made, I could totally see her doing. Yes it's too hard to apologize, so you make up a little lie. Yes you want to make someone's life better. Yes you dream of what could be on the other Earth. It all made so much sense. The time she finally revealed to him who she was... wow... it was such a moment I'll never forget.

And of course, I can't not comment on the amazing science fiction concept. The idea of another Earth popping into existence, and then everything after that being different... going on a different trajectory.. it's kind of a mind blowing idea. What if that happened, how would we react? I think the movie portrayed it somewhat realistically and I could see an Elon Musk type finding people to go on the journey to the planet who might fit into the other Earth like a missing puzzle piece.

The film never goes too far or says anything too loudly. It's all done in this way that keeps you imagining, wondering, what might be...

Anyways, I could totally give this a ten out of ten. Not many films make me tear up but this one did multiple times... that plus the low budget sci-fi and great acting and thought provoking... it all just adds up for me.... But I feel it's more of a nine out of ten. Not quite sure what the slightly missing element is... maybe the two earths would have contacted eachother sooner than four years... maybe that's what bugged me slightly... but alas, it's a small nit pick.

I've seen this movie twice now, and it was more enjoyable on the second watch.

Do I recommend this to everyone? Not really. I just think it's a movie I personally love. That I'd proudly add to my Blu Ray collection. It's not for everyone... the pace is slow, there are few characters, and maybe it's a bit Indie... but I liked all of that personally. The character study and brilliant performance of the worlds most underrated actress who I really wish would have kept going and going into more movies. Anyways, maybe see it if you like Sci-fi thinkers that are slow paced and fine tuned...

Beautiful beautiful story. 9/10.

This is not a commercial movie, but something like a documentary shot with a commercial movie like quality.

The storyline in the IMDb main page describes the premise of this movie, but thats not what this movie is about.

The other planet thing is just like the background music, its there for effect. Other Earth is all about beauty, the attention to detail and the simple yet delicate story.

Its a lot like those many many beautiful Japanese movies (Tokyo Story comes to my mind, though I have to say its not as good as that). Its a beautiful journey, and when its done you lie back and think about its beauty.

This movie is highly recommended if you enjoy simple movies like those.

This is not a sci-fi and even the logic behind the other planet is too far fetched and they don't even hide it, they never go into any scientific details. There is also no action, nor is it a thriller.

Cheers. :-)............

Hammer your expectations down through the rocks. Here, let me help you. There's 1000's of fellow IMDb'ers who thought the movie sucked horribly. A lot of suckage. It's not that great. It's not sci-fi. If you're thinking of another movie to compare this to, no matter what you pick, this one'll fall terribly short.

To the facts, Brit co-wrote the movie, she's gorgeous. I probably would've given up half-way if it wasn't for the mysteriousness she portrays. That face, gawd! Made on a shoestring budget. Heck, Brit had to do her co-star's make-up in between shots. This is a movie made with passion, and a lot of faith that they'd done good stuff.

Well, let me sorta paint my experience watching 'Another Earth'. Glued to my seat, for an hour and a half, almost as if this was a thriller? I'm serious. Captivated by the gorgeous shots of 'earth 2'. Waiting for the little streams of info being released ever so stringently -- the announcement on the radio as they discover earth 2, and a whole bunch more. I've already mentioned how captivating Brit is.

What? No Sci-fi? There's definitely food for the sci-fi enthusiast. The premise comes from a mixture of new-age string theory of the multiverse kind. The ending'll have you wondering about Einsteinian space-time implications.

The core of the movie is largely philosophical. Forgiveness. Rebirth. etc. Kept me struggling throughout with my emotions about the main character. Past the acting. How much forgiveness can the viewer unleash? And is it justified?

Chill out, leave your expectations at the door. You may not like it. It's slow. It demands your attention, so keep away from the caffeine. You might not feel the same way about Brit though. She's gorgeous. She really is. It's just a well-made passion-filled indie-flick. It's got some gorgeous imagery. The atmosphere, constantly thick, with color and emotion. This review's gone on way too long. Indie flick of the year? Gets my vote. Who cares?

Oh BTW, its possible your friends'll hate you for recommending this. Especially if they're the kind that finds it hard to appreciate photography, artsy stuff maybe, and don't have much patience, you know, generally. So there ya go, one final reason for you to dig this flick. The fact that you like it -- yeah it'll be one of those things you look back on and say 'Hey, I really am different. I appreciate interesting deep stuff. I'm like an artist, philosopher, or something. neat!'. Holy hell. What? Is that really why I...

This film pulled me in on its promise to deliver an interesting enough sci-fi plot. The cover suggested it as a major focus.

Unfortunately, this whole concept just sort of meanders around in the back ground.. literally, shots of 'another earth' in the sky, becoming more of a by-product.

This film, essentially a dramatic piece focusing on the aftermath of a tragedy, is actually good. Sadly, it just isn't what I came for and I felt slightly cheated at the lack of any actual sci-fi alien planet doppelgänger earth action. I'm aware of the concept, and it works as a metaphor - but it felt like the film was pulling in two different directions, marketing as one thing but delivering another.

There are more than a couple of things going on here. For the casual viewer, this may be invisible to the naked eye. Having said that, if you pay a little attention, you will not only comprehend its core message, you will begin to truly appreciate the concept behind its making. Do not be thrown off by its subtle science fiction elements. If you find yourself questioning its genre, the actual story lies firmly wedged between drama and art. For this reviewer, the sci-fi aspect stands as a metaphor that powers the film's message.

17 year old Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling) has just been accepted into MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Her celebration is short-lived when after a night of partying, crashes her car into a vehicle driven by John Burroughs' (William Mapother), instantly killing his wife and son. Although Rhoda appears to be intoxicated, her distraction comes from a radio broadcast stating the discovery of a planet that closely resembles Earth. Four years later, Rhoda is released from prison; her spirit broken and dreams shattered, she takes up a janitor's position at a local school. At this point, there are various theories about the other planet. When contact is made, it is established that the other planet is in fact a mirror Earth having entered our solar system from a parallel dimension. Preparations are made to travel to the other Earth and Rhoda participates in a competition to become one of the first civilians to accompany astronauts to the approaching mirror Earth. After cleaning the school for some time, Rhoda approaches John with the intention of apologizing for her carelessness, but loses her nerve and poses as a maid-to-order cleaner. A music professor at Yale, John has become an alcoholic with disregard for his profession ever since the accident. He buys into Rhoda's pretence and has her clean his house once a week. In time, she helps him overcome his grief but never discloses who she really is. Just when they seem to be drawn to each other, Rhoda wins the competition to travel to the other Earth. She must now decide between confronting her demons and telling John the truth or escape her past and start a new life on the other Earth.

Until this point, the story unfolds remarkably in an easy to watch, evenly paced narrative. As a viewer, I was captivated right from the start. Co-written by Marling and director Mike Cahill, the screenplay has impeccable character detail relating to ample areas that allow us to probe within our own faults and limitations. As the lead character, Rhoda Williams is a bright individual with an even brighter future who throws it all away with just one stupid mistake. How many of us can look within ourselves and honestly claim that we have never made a mistake worth regretting? If you can raise a hand to that question then you must be a renowned hero, or one very self-righteous individual. Cahill's biggest accomplishment is in Rhoda's character study— An intelligent and ambitious teenager reduced to a confused and troubled adult, but a wiser one having learnt from her mistake. In giving life to this character, Marling is flawless and ironically powerful as a helpless woman fallen from grace. After this movie, I can only expect that we are about to see a lot more of Marling in the years to come. William Mapother as John is almost as inspiring as a man who has lost everything but the heart to recovery. With nothing to lose, it is always easy to give up on life, but Mapother does an exceptional turn around with John and gives closure to his character. Kumar Pallana has very few scenes in this movie but plays a vital role in mentoring Rhoda into redemption. He does this without much dialogue but with uncanny screen charisma.

As a debut directorial, Cahill also gets top credit for the picture post-card cinematography. Beautiful would be an understatement. We have cinematography dependent films with similar themes in GATTACA and SOLARIS, but nothing compares to the way Cahill renders his landscape in this movie. Also noteworthy is the pulsating score, used sparingly but effectively. Additionally, there is a scene on how to make music using a tool that is usually annoying to the ear. Amazing! For a shoe-string budget, this film did not win two awards at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival by pot-luck. That alone should silence haters for questioning the film's scientific logic or lack of. This is not about conquering another planet (done to death!) or alien invasions. It is about redemption through self-discovery and re-invention of one's self esteem by learning from the past and learning to let go of the past. It is about looking at a mirror image of one's self as opposed to assuming everything is perfect. For a drama, this film is as beautiful as it is poetic. Just don't expect any eye-popping special effects. There are tons of other movies catering to that need.