Gravity: Spoiler Alert

Gravity. Wow. This Alfonso Cuaron film was truly one I’ll never forget.  Experiencing this film in 3D in the movie theatre was an unanticipated thrill. Although I had heard good things about the film ahead of time, I never expected that I would actually experience a sense of fear, after all, it’s just a space movie right? What can go wrong when there’s nobody there to harm you? Well, apparently everything.

As Dr. Stone (Sandra Bullock) and her crew encounter high speed debris from old satellites flying right at them, all hell breaks loose. One by one we see her crew members leave her side, making her the only human in space. Sitting in the movie theater, surrounded by several people, I still felt the eerie sense of isolation. It’s difficult to imagine what you would do stranded in space because it’s such a foreign concept to over 99 percent of the population, but the film truly depicted the fear one must encounter in that situation.

As Dr. Stone fights with everything in her power to survive and return to her daughter, I was reminded of the plot of Sunshine. The films are very similar as they revolve around characters stranded in space with limited amounts of oxygen, among other obstacles. Both films even depict a crew member who freezes to death causing their limbs to literally chip off like ice cubes. Both films really allow the audience to appreciate the role of astronauts in society as they risk their lives to provide us with research on the unknown.

The most interesting aspect of Gravity is the fact that nearly the whole movie is a one woman show. Dr. Stone is isolated with nobody to engage in dialogue with which must have been a difficult task for the director to tackle. She is left with her actions and her own thoughts to tell the story. The fact that she is all alone really contributes to the theme of fear and isolation in the movie. I think the film would have been perceived quite differently by the audience if she was left with a companion to share her struggle with. Allowing there to only be one character for the majority of the film highlights the inner struggle she has with herself. We see the various emotions take over Dr. Stone as she fluctuates between refusing to give up and eventual feelings of defeat. This struggle is one that could only be fully understood if a character is portrayed without the company of another person.

This film truly made me appreciate gravity and all that it does for us because I would absolutely never want to embark on an adventure to space after seeing this movie. As Sandra Bullock finally makes it back on to earth and lands in the middle of nowhere, we see that she doesn’t even care that she’s lost and nowhere to be found because at lease she made it back to the familiarity earth. As she grasps the sand between her fingers and literally has a moment of pure love with the soil, we further understand the struggle she encountered. She doesn’t care that she left the isolation of space only to find isolation of earth.  She’s home.