3 out of 5

Director: Mike Cahill

It’s hard to say much about Another Earth because not much happens. It’s a contemplative film, using quiet to evoke thought on what the events could mean to the characters, or to you. And it gets there sometimes. Some moments achieve a wonderful impact through minimalism. But in order to fill up 92 minutes we have to flesh some things out, have some wandering shots, feel silly about the silence and include a blind and deaf character that acts as the wise sage… Another Earth: Rhoda just got into a good college and is out to celebrate. When driving home, an announcement comes over the radio that another planet has been discovered and can be seen in the sky. Due to being a drunken teen staring out her window, she crashes her car into John Burroughs’ car, killing his pregnant wife and his son. Flash forward to Rhoda getting out of jail. Through some film machinations, she purposefully connects back with Mr. Burroughs – who is unaware of their history. …And every day the planet – which appears to exactly resemble Earth – gets closer, and contact and visiting the planet become possibilities. It’s hard to say if a film like this is good or bad. The shooting style is annoying, as its beginner’s grainy, bouncy indie camera stuff, with some rather pointless edits thrown in for spice, and the music wants to underline events more effectively than it does. But the theme is good. As others have remarked, this is not hard science and instead acts as a parable for questions about regret, and the choices we make. Would you leave it all behind if you could? What would you ask yourself if you met yourself? But Another Earth throws in some too interesting gems about the second planet to not explore OR the movie never fully commits itself to speculation, meaning it straddles the fence between what kind of movie it wants to be. Drilled down to a short, Another Earth would’ve been striking. As a feature length, it deserves a more focused presentation.