Ad Astra Review

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 122 minutes 

Starring: Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga

Directed by: James Gray

The story: Ad Astra follows the journey of a man who must go to the farthest edges of the solar system, in a search for his missing father.

The verdict: Writing a review for Ad Astra has proven to be a tricky task, and that isn’t because there isn’t anything to say about the film. Rather that Ad Astra presents a slight conundrum. It reminds me of an exhibition I once went to. In this exhibition, people sat in a dark room where strange images were projected onto the walls and eerie, echoing music played. It was beautiful and intriguing, but on the other hand I didn’t really understand what was going on and there were times when it made me want to fall asleep. This is kind of how I felt about Ad Astra. When the film ended, I felt a bit disappointed and hollow, and yet at the same time - I cannot stop thinking about this film.

Visually, Ad Astra is beautiful in every way. Each frame is sparse but perfectly put together so that the audience is always focused on exactly what the director wants. The colour palette and tones are both wonderfully vivid and muted at the same time, and of course there are some incredible shots of space. Overall, Ad Astra may be one of the most visually impressive films of the year. Brad Pitt is also incredibly beautiful in this film. That may sound like a silly thing to say about one of Hollywood’s biggest actors and someone who has frequently been voted as one of the best looking men on the planet. But it’s a different kind of beauty - there’s an innate beauty in his performance where you can’t look away from him. 

Ad Astra’s trailer may have possibly made this film seem like a space disaster movie or that it has big, action packed scenes in it. Nothing could be further from the truth - Ad Astra is a quiet and slow paced film, even in its ‘big’ moments. It’s a film where it feels like you dare not breathe too loudly - in the cinema, it felt like everyone was holding their breath and only when the film finished did we all exhale loudly. 

Ad Astra, whilst set in space, is really a film about humanity with the setting very much a secondary consideration. It’s about our relationships, the choices we make, how our memories shape or haunt us. Ad Astra is a deeply philosophical film and is metaphorical on every level - there are so many layers to this film and it is certainly not one you can watch mindlessly. Ad Astra needs careful attention paid to it, otherwise you’ll be completely lost in space. 

Even though Ad Astra is so intriguing you feel as though you cannot look away, it is hard going at times. There’s almost a lulling quality to it and I felt at times that I was almost drifting off. In fact, there was definitely one moment where I felt my eyes close and I had to shake myself awake. I have seen many other reviews where people have called Ad Astra “boring.” So I think this is going to be a divisive film with audiences. In terms of the scientific aspect, the science is a bit iffy and I’m not sure it actually made sense in terms of realism. But of course, one this is a film and two - the science certainly works as a parable. 

Throughout the film, it feels as though it is building to something - a twist perhaps or a conclusive outcome. But this sense of resolution or catharsis never came, for me anyway, and I felt mildly frustrated by this. When the credits rolled, I felt empty and I left the screening feeling disappointed. I was ready to come away and give this film a two star rating. So it may be a bit of a surprise that I would call Ad Astra one of the best films of the year. So, how did a film that made me fall asleep and left me feeling disappointed suddenly become a film I am calling one of the best of the year? 

It started almost as soon as I left the cinema. I couldn’t stop thinking about this film - the visuals, the performances, the feelings it evoked. I kept seeing the stunning opening sequence replaying and the beautiful, sparse shots. The ideas within it, the dreamlike quality - Ad Astra feels  like a film I’ve seen before countless times but also a completely unique film that I’ve never seen anything like before. And with Brad Pitt giving a nuanced, career best performance, I have to conclude that Ad Astra is a pretty incredible film.

The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half.