Review of Another Earth (2011) by Betsy B — 17 Jan 2012

Rhoda (Brit Marling) is interested in astronomy and has just been accepted into MIT. She has her whole shining future ahead of her. That night it's announced that a new planet has just been discovered, uncannily similar Earth, and suddenly it's right up in the sky next to the moon (they can do that in a movie). Rhoda celebrates having gotten into MIT, takes off in her car, and BAM! She crashes into a family of three, killing the mother and five-year-old son. Four years later, Rhoda's released from prison, still so distraught over what she did that she can see no future for herself. She goes to work as a school janitor and begins to investigate the life of Yale music professor John Burroughs (William Mapother), the father who survived the accident.

Another Earth is a very clever story about the new planet, along with the story of how it affects the lives of Rhoda and John. I found it interesting that most of our information about the planet "Earth Two" comes from radio or TV reports, often in the background. The way the personalities of the two characters unfold is very well done. Marling and Mapother make us feel the torment you might expect two people in that situation to feel. 27-year-old Brit Marling, who plays Rhoda, co-wrote the screenplay, which won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

This is a quick 90 minutes and a LOT better than Melancholia. It's unrated, but would be a PG-13 only for a fairly tame sex scene. I hope you'll watch it! I give it an 8 1/2.