“another earth” film review

I was and still am pretty excited about this movie since it takes place and is filmed in and around the New Haven area. FYI, I’m a Connecticut native and the Elm City is where I was born. However, I didn’t figure this out until later in the film when characters were throwing town names around and I had to run to IMDb and Wikipedia. The filmmaker is from New Haven and some scenes were actually filmed in his childhood home.

Anyway, my initial allure to this film came from watching the trailer. I don’t usually include trailers for my reviews (because I’m lazy) but this one I think is beneficial to what I feel is an under appreciated, little know indie flick.

Take note that the lead actress practically tells you the true plot of this film. And after watching this movie, I also must applaud how well done this trailer was made. I’ll explain in 2 minutes…

I will “warn” you that this film might not be exactly what you think it might be. Then again, I don’t know what you think this film might be unless like me, you thought this was all about meeting your double or visiting “Earth 2”. As it turns out, it’s more about what the girl in the trailer who wanted to tell you her story. She partied too hard and had an accident for which she regrets. Trust me, the plot is a lot deeper than that, and this movie made me sit up from my supine position (I was watching this before bed). That’s saying something.

While I have talked about it on The Lost Dial, I find it difficult to tell other people without giving too much of it away. I don’t know whether or not to tell people if she goes, or what she hopes to accomplish or find if she does go. And just so you know, don’t look for too much scientific accuracy. You know, when a planet is coming closer and closer to your own, you’d expect some hellish things to occur. Nope, this is more about a thought experiment and what would happen if there was another earth… another you.

And I have to say, this story was pretty well crafted. As I was trying to say earlier, the story is more about a woman wanting to reconcile a mistake she made… basically killing a man’s family by way of drunk driving. Years later, she eventually goes to meet this man, who lives a life in shambles, and begins to try to help him. Meanwhile, Earth 2 is getting closer and our heroine wishes to go there. I’m going to stop summarizing  now because all these events tie together so nicely at the end and the ending scene has a big payoff. And again, leaving hardcore science aside, I think logically what happens makes a lot of sense.

This movie tends to move slowly, and I was kinda ho-hum through the beginning of it (not really understanding it was groundwork for the plot), but once the story really started unfolding, good old fashioned curiosity settled in and I was along for the ride.

Ethan... er William Mapother

Shout out to William Mapother who to LOSTies like myself will fondly remember him as the creepiest Other, Ethan Rom. Unfortunately for me, because of LOST, I had a hard time believing he wasn’t Ethan and some very bad, bad guy. Okay, so Ethan wasn’t really that bad of a guy if you see most of the story from his side. Let’s chalk it up to him being manipulated by Ben Linus, like the rest of the Others. But I digress. Mapother plays a character who isn’t a bad guy, but still has that menacing, threatening look that he has when he plays Ethan. At least this character smiles more. But c’mon, “other” is in the dude’s last name! How can I not keep making that connection. Anyway, his character also plays a saw. The person who plays the saw in reality is this lady.

The last thing I’d like to mention is the wide shots of the sky. I loved seeing Earth 2 on the horizon or barely visible with the moon. And it only became more eerie as Earth 2 got closer to Earth 1.

Overall, watch it for the imagery and the thought provoking idea of another Earth. Stay for the story of a girl who tries to make up for killing Ethan’s family. I don’t know if this is a movie I’d own, but I’d watch it again and grab screen shots for my desktop wallpaper.