Ad Astra is James Gray’s emotional and captivating space-set movie. Released last year, it surprised audiences that expected an action science fiction film by giving them an atmospheric movie that focuses on loneliness and family. The protagonist, Clifford McBride, sets out into space to find answers regarding his father’s mysterious disappearance.
Brad Pitt may be awarded for his performance in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, but his movie Ad Astra deserves just as much praise. Space movies can be divided into two categories nowadays: The slow and fast-paced ones. With a lengthy running time, symbolic cinematography, and an emphasis on themes of isolation and time-passing, Ad Astra is part of the former category of space movies. For those who liked Ad Astra, here are 10 movies that should be watched next.
10 Passengers
Released in 2016, Passengers stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt as two passengers of a spacecraft traveling to another planet that encounters a serious malfunction. On this journey, Pratt’s Preston wakes up from deep sleep just 30 years into a 120-year journey and then falls in love with Lawrence’s Lane. Together, they have to work to save the people on the ship from a series of malfunctions, but they encounter more obstacles along the way.
Just like Ad Astra, this film is more about mental and emotional struggles than about the thrill of being in deep space. The movie explores people’s psyches and the intricacies of relationships.
9 Life
In the likes of Alien, Life sends its protagonist into deep space and tortures them with an unknown alien that threatens to kill everyone on board of the spaceship. From Ryan Reynolds to Jake Gyllenhaal, the characters get attacked by this unstoppable alien one by one, and it’s hard to believe that one of them can even make it alive.
Life is slightly scientific than the Alien trilogy, making it quite similar to Ad Astra despite the horror elements. Before being deadly, indeed, the alien was simply a small creature that the scientists were observing and learning from – that part of the movie has a similar atmosphere to Ad Astra.
8 Blade Runner 2049
35 years after Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner, the sequel Blade Runner 2049 was released. Both the movie and its reception were vastly different. While some hated how atmospheric and symbolic the sequel was, some found it creative, original, and even better than the first movie.
Blade Runner 2049 may seem like an odd choice on this list but aside from the setting, the movie has similar themes, pacing, and tone to Ad Astra. In Ad Astra, the deep space represents isolation and loneliness for the protagonist, something which is similarly symbolized by wide, empty spaces and long silences in Blade Runner 2049.
7 Moon
Moon is a great 2009 space movie that deserves more recognition. The story focuses on an astronaut who is getting towards the end of his contract at a lunar station and is about to return home. Unfortunately, before he gets the chance to, he faces a fatal accident that threatens his plans. The movie focuses on the heart-wrenching aspects of the accident.
Sam Rockwell delivers a powerful and captivating performance akin to Brad Pitt in Ad Astra. Moon is perfect for fans of good storytelling, great acting, and fascinating visuals.
6 The Martian
The Martian takes a fun, light-hearted approach to the space genre. Playing an astronaut accidentally left behind by his team who thought him dead, Matt Damon is funny and relatable in his struggle to survive months by himself while stranded on Mars. Whereas Ad Astra is serious, slow, and intense, The Martian has more jokes, shorter scenes, and a faster pace.
Ad Astra‘s storyline, however, does resemble that of The Martian. So, for those who love stories about men being alone and emotional in space, whether comedic or dramatic, The Martian will not disappoint.
5 Gravity
In 2013, Gravity initiated the internet-named “sadstronaut” genre – films whose protagonist is an astronaut who is stuck in space by themselves – and then came The Martian and Ad Astra.
In Gravity, Sandra Bullock loses her partner during a space mission when they get hit by space debris and then struggles to find her way back to Earth. The movie immerses viewers in an intimate and tense atmosphere the way that Ad Astra does, with both films focusing on a single character who has to deal with the physical and mental tolls of being completely alone in deep space.
4 Independence Day
Independence Day is a science fiction thriller with Will Smith that looks at an alien invasion in America. A special team is assembled to fight the alien’s superior weaponry. Overall, though, the movie is about the survival of mankind, something which can only be achieved by humans working together.
Just like Ad Astra, the movie contains characters uncovering mysteries and doing everything to survive. For anyone who appreciated Ad Adstra for its science fiction and investigation elements, Independence Day should be definitely watched, even if it is far more action-heavy.
3 First Man
After Damien Chazelle’s huge success with La La Land, one would have expected First Man, also starring Ryan Gosling, to be a bigger deal than it was at its release. The movie is based on the real-life story of Neil Armstrong and his infamous moon landing. The movie is action, drama, and science-fiction all merged into one, while also including small, largely unknown details about such a historical event.
Whether interested in the moon landing or not, First Man is worth a watch. For fans of Ad Astra‘s brave, intelligent, and ambitious protagonist, First Man is the perfect movie.
2 Interstellar
Christopher Nolan is an amazing director, and some argue that Interstellar is his best work. The movie looks at a futuristic world that is suffering the consequences of climate change, and the protagonists are working together to find another planet to which inhabitants of the Earth could relocate.
Similar to Ad Astra merging science fiction with themes centering around family, Interstellar puts a father’s relationship with his daughter at the heart of a story about saving the human race.
1 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey is often categorized as the best movie of all time, and for good reasons. It’s an iconic movie and everyone should see it once during their lifetime. Stanley Kubrick’s genre-defining movie shaped not just sci-fi but cinema in general. In some ways, most modern space movies are influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey, including Ad Astra.
Whatever you liked about Ad Astra – the acting, cinematography, plot development, themes, music, tone, and atmosphere – 2001: A Space Odyssey delivers something in the same vein. It’s very lengthy, has a slow build-up, and an extremely ambiguous ending that might require more than one viewing to figure out; however, all of these elements make 2001: A Space Odyssey the masterpiece that it is known to be.
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