Last year, there seemed to be a filmmaking confluence, where directors decided to premiere films all looking at the dramatic effects of space travel. Most notably, there was Brad Pitt’s underrated “Ad Astra.” But there was also the feature debut of director Noah Hawley, “Lucy in the Sky.” Perhaps leading the way, in terms of acclaim, however, is “Proxima.”
As seen in the new trailer, “Proxima” tells the story of a female astronaut that is picked for an important year-long mission in space, which will help pave the way for space travel to Mars. However, the grueling missing means a grueling training, which adds drama to her home life, particularly with her daughter and ex-husband.
READ MORE: ‘Proxima’: Eva Green’s Somber Space Drama Never Quite Achieves Liftoff [TIFF Review]
The film stars Eva Green, Matt Dillon, Zélie Boulant-Lemesle, Aleksey Fateev, Lars Eidinger, and Sandra Hüller. “Proxima” is written and directed by Alice Winocour, who previously worked on features such as “Disorder” and “Augustine.”
We saw the film at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and in our review, we said, “A film that takes so much care to spend time on a different perspective—on the woman juggling ambition and love without sacrifice—feels vital. At the same time, during the restrained and contemplative journey that precedes liftoff, ‘Proxima’ often feels like it is waiting for a more devastating threat – you can do all the preparation in the world, and it still won’t prevent the fallout of the big leap when it happens.”
“Proxima” has been a fixture at festivals since last fall and is expected to continue its theatrical rollout worldwide throughout the spring.
Here’s a synopsis from Film at Lincoln Center, where the movie is making its New York premiere during the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2020 festival:
Sarah (Eva Green), an astronaut living in Cologne, is selected for a yearlong spaceflight to help pave the way for future voyages to Mars. Before liftoff, she must spend a grueling year at a training facility in Moscow, which separates her from her young daughter (Zélie Boulant), left in the care of her ex-husband (Clouds of Sils Maria’s Lars Eidinger). Highly aware that she’s the only woman involved in the mission, Sarah tries to stay focused and stoic, suppressing any weaknesses that her condescending captain (Matt Dillon) might notice, and trying to soothe her daughter’s newfound loneliness from afar. Set to an atmospheric score from Ryuichi Sakamoto, the third feature from Alice Winocour (Disorder, Rendez-Vous 2016) wrestles poignantly with the earthly loose ends and internal pressures of space travel.
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