Another Earth (2011)

Director: Mike Cahill
Cast: Brit Marling, William Mapother
Genre: Sci-fi Drama
Certificate Rating: 12
My Rating:  4/5


*Spoilers*



"I saw this image when I was a kid. The photograph of Jupiter taken by NASA's Voyager. Beautiful. But nothing special until shown in rapid succession. Suddenly Jupiter was alive. Breathing. I was hypnotised."
This first utterance pretty much sums up the main character of the film, Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling). A smart girl, fascinated by Physics and the universe. Driving home intoxicated one day Rhoda listens to a story of an approaching planet just like Earth. Rhoda is distracted by the idea of a world very much like our own and looks to the sky for this mysterious planet edging closer and closer to our galaxy, found just close to the North Star. She collides with another car killing the mother and child and sending the father John Burroughs (William Mapother) into a coma. She is sent to prison. 
4 years later Rhoda is released and 'Earth 2' is much closer now. Rhoda is informed that there is a competition to be one of the first to venture to the new planet. All she has to do is write why she thinks she should be given the chance. But she doesn't, she keeps prolonging her entry. She finds work as a cleaner in West Haven High School where she can go unnoticed and untalkative to most around her. Rhoda then looks up John Burroughs' address and goes there hoping to confront and apologise for the things she has down and the harm caused. However Rhoda becomes nervous and lies to John stating that she is from a Maid Service company offering free cleaning for a day as a marketing campaign. Rhoda continues to clean his house each week.
After one evening of cleaning his house she comes home to find the US making first contact with 'Earth 2' in which they become successful. Yet the lady communicating with 'Earth 2' learns she is speaking to herself, the 'Earth 2' is a mirror of our own. 
Meanwhile Rhoda and John begin to warm to each other, sharing simple delights such as playing boxing on the Wii or offering a drive home. She submits her essay for the competition. John plays the Saw (yes a saw, a tool you would use to cut through wood) for Rhoda creating a very otherworldly sound, almost like a woman operatically singing. 
She dreams of going to space and in between her story-telling flashing images of space i.e. rockets, astronauts at work, planets turning, occur. John and Rhoda fall in love. 
John after their night of sex opens up about his life and how his wife and son were involved in a car crash and himself being in a coma. He admits to her that he's angry that he never found out the name of the person involved. Rhoda finds out that she has won the opportunity to venture to 'Earth 2'. Rhoda tells John about winning the competition and how she'll be going to 'Earth 2', John pleads her not to go. She then tells him of her true story, that it was her who collided with his car. Soon Rhoda is on the news for the being the winner of the competition. She runs to Burroughs' house and gives him the ticket telling him she hopes his wife and child are on 'Earth 2' . 
John Burroughs goes to 'Earth 2'. The last scene is Rhoda walking home and she meets her mirror self. 

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I love the concept of the film, the idea that there is possibly a parallel world of Earth or even life on another planet similar to our own amazes and fascinates me. The vivid colours and the use of light is dominant in Another Earth which I believe is very cleverly created and emphasised. The use of effects were visually stunning, especially with the reproduction of the ever present second planet. I really enjoyed this film and would happily watch it again. It created a sense of melancholy for me as I was sad for both of the characters, yet happy as to how far they had come, without the underlying meaning that she had killed his family on this Earth. The character development between the two protagonists is a beautiful creation and you really acknowledge the change in Rhoda and John. It is truly a beautiful film and I seriously recommend it to any film nerd or anyone who is after a different take on life somewhere out there, from the enemy planets who are supposedly always out to kill us. 

Enjoy x

IMDb:  Another Earth