I’d heard vaguely about Another Earth coming out of Sundance, but it seems like its lack of starpower prevented any massive buzz. But after watching the recently released trailer, I have to say, I am very interested.
Another Earth tells the story an alternate reality where a duplicate planet earth exists. The main character is Rhoda (Brit Marling), an ambitious MIT student, who (by the looks of the trailer) considers visiting this other planet. Marling looks absolutely gorgeous and very ethereal here, and she seems like an interesting actress. Fans of Lost will also recognize William Mathoper, who played the creepy “Other”, Ethan, on that show.
Visually, this film looks stunning. Story-wise, it brought two other films to mind. Melancholia, which is Lars Von Trier’s anticipated upcoming film, also explores the idea of other planets possibly threatening earth. Atmospherically, the two movies even seem kind of similar. I also thought of Rabbit Hole, which I watched recently. The whole “alternate reality” idea was only a small part of Rabbit Hole, but it brought up some very interesting ideas. It looks like Another Earth is exploring those ideas.
I’m not usually a huge sci-fi fan, but so far I am curious about the sci-fi films that 2011 has to offer. As well as Another Earth and Melancholia, there is also Take Shelter (which we’re yet to see a trailer for, but got strong reviews at Sundance), which stars the always unconventional Michael Shannon as a father living through some kind of apocalyptic storm.
Another Earth will get a limited release on July 22.
Times Like Those 