Review of Another Earth (2011) by John M — 17 Feb 2012

Science fiction and redemption. When another planet appears in the sky one fateful night, a young girl (Brit Marling) collides her car with another, putting the driver (William Mapother) of the other car into a coma and killing his wife and son.

Four years later, she's no longer imprisoned and he's no longer comatose. She seeks him out and begins to clean his house, keeping her identity a secret, as he doesn't know who she is because her identity wasn't revealed to him because she was a minor when the crime was committed, and that is a dynamic that works.

If you only see one movie this year about a planet nearing the Earth, do yourself a favor and let this be the one. It's a story that is a hundred times more accessible than Melancholia and features characters that you can actually relate to.

The focus of this movie is much more the relationship between these two broken people than it is the science fiction, but the sci-fi element is always there in the background, and you don't mind that the drama is the focus because it is actually very compelling.

The acting is quality, especially from William Matpother, and both characters have believable arcs that you can get behind. At a short 90 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and raises a lot of thought provoking questions.

This is a nice find for those of you on the indie circuit.