Ad Astra (Latin for “to the stars”) is set in an unspecified future when interplanetary travel is common, and the constant search for intelligent life in the outer reaches of the solar system continues. Under top-secret orders from SpaceCom, cool, collected Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is dispatched to Neptune to find his astronaut father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), an American hero thought to have died many years ago, but now suspected to be behind power surges that endanger Earth. “Like I have a choice,” Roy dutifully mutters—an attitude that may help explain Roy’s long estrangement from his wife Eve (Liv Tyler). And so Roy’s epic journey into the galaxy begins—from the Earth to the Moon, on to Mars, and then Neptune, accompanied by his father’s now-retired colleague (Donald Sutherland) on the ill-fated Lima Project. Over-colonized, dwellers on the Moon battle urban congestion, and pirates abound, smashing their Moon rovers into unsuspecting astronauts. On Mars, Roy’s stoic persistence is questioned by Helen Lantos (Ruth Negga), who teaches him about the value of connectivity in the moment. Filmmaker James Gray’s cerebral sci-fi film deftly explores the father/son dynamic in a literally otherworldly setting. Recommended. (S. Granger)
Ad Astra
Fox, 123 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $37.99, Dec. 17
Ad Astra
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