Indie sci-fi is something of an anomaly, and no wonder. Science fiction films generally call for a big-scale budget to pull off the big-screen effects they are known for. Moon, which hits the screens locally at Charleston at the Regal Charle Towne Square 18 in North Chuck on Friday, is going for something completely different. It’s a low-key affair, with minimal amount of futurist gadgetry.
Directed by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), Moon takes place in the proverbial and unspecified near future. Astronaut Sam Bell, played by indie stalwart Sam Rockwell (Choke, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind), is at the end of his three-year stint on the moon where he was contracted to mine Helium-3, Earth’s primary source of energy.
With only a talking computer named Gerty (voice of Kevin Spacey), Sam leads a lonely existence on the moon and is looking forward to his life back on the Earth with his wife and young daughter. But then things turn a wee bit weird just a few weeks away from his return trip home. See, Sam suddenly finds himself face-to-face with a younger, angrier version of himself. WFT, HAL-2000? The solution: Sam has to figure out what is happening to him and exactly what the company he works for is looking to do with him in the future. (You can guess, but we’re not going to tell you if you’re right.)
This intimate sci-fi drama was a feature selection at the Sundance and SXSW fests.
Moon
Rated R
FRI-SUN: 12:05, 2:40, 5:15, 7:55, 10:25 pm
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