The visionary delights of Interstellar are dizzying, opening up a world of wonder and deception.

The expectations for Christopher Nolan‘s latest epic could not be higher as his previous films (Inception, The Dark Knight) have soared to success, mirroring each other in their own Nolan-esque way. What you will find when you launch yourself into a world of black holes and raw emotion, the world of Interstellar, is something far more complex and compelling than anything Nolan has given audiences before. The ride is as challenging as it is affirming, as crushing as it is hopeful. It is an experience in cinema that will no doubt divide audiences but bond them, in a very human way. Look beyond what you know, beyond what you feel and find yourself free of time and space, as you leap into Interstellar.  

The Earth is slowly dying and food is scarce, people are starving and the constant dust storms that plague the world are damaging man-kinds health in a rapid and vicious manner. Former astronaut, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) lives on a corn farm with his ten year old daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy), her older brother, Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and their Grandfather, Donald (John Lithgow). Now that Earth and it’s population are losing hope for survival, Cooper knows he must maintain a life of farming in order to feed his family but never loses his urge to explore scientific meaning and theory, a trait that passionately flows through Murph, but not so much Tom, who is happy to continue farming. McConaughey takes on this family man role with commitment that is both genuine and touching. The relationship between Cooper and Murph feels organic, with McConaughey finding a charming balance between protective father and impulsive teacher. Mackenzie Foy plays Murph with a spunky sense of character, something that easily bounces of McConaughey’s own Texan moxie, making them an extremely satisfying on-screen pair. 

Having believed NASA and all it’s important work had been shut down and quietened over the years of Earth’s demise, Cooper is dumbfounded to stumble across Professor Brand (Michael Caine) and his daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway), who are working on a space mission to find another habitable planet for the human race to move to, leaving Earth behind to rot. It soon becomes clear that Cooper is mankind’s last hope of survival, he must travel through the dangers of deep space and make his way through a wormhole, leading to another galaxy, where their nirvana hopefully awaits. From here on, the visual splendor that Nolan rolls out is almost incomprehensible, he builds a galaxy that is largely beautiful while simultaneously terrifying.

The scale of these visionary delights are dizzying, opening up a world of wonder and deception. His vision is nothing short of spectacular, solidifying him as an auteur of masterful proportions. Audiences will be astonished to look upon the varied beauty of the cosmos, but the fear of the unknown is rooted within each gliding scene, every long shot. The urge to stare in pure fascination is only matched by the fearful gaze of a world still largely unknown by mankind. This general sense of fearing the unknown and attaching emotions to such stunning visuals is only solidified when accompanied by Hans Zimmer‘s Godly score. He is no doubt a poet, weaving notes in place of words. Both hauntingly melancholy and fiercely dramatic, together Zimmer and Nolan engulfs audiences in a sensory cocoon of sound and screen. 

Co-written by Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, Interstellar is based on physicist Kip Thorne’s scientific work on traversable wormholes.  The scientific  jargon and extensive theories that run throughout the entire narrative of Interstellar are extremely overwhelming. It is incredibly easy to get lost within the constant new findings and theories that Cooper & Co must work through. What is explained at the beginning of this 169 minute movie is soon forgotten and transformed into something completely different by the end. This can be somewhat mildly annoying and frustrating but at the sacrifice of those sensational visuals and compelling narrative, it’s easy to forgive the Nolan’s.

Similar to this, the dialogue within the middle section of Interstellar can come across a little pithy. One scene in particularly when Amelia is contemplating the true meaning behind space and time, it feels very much staged and somewhat wooden, which is disappointing when coming from such a talented actress. The monologue in question also verges on the edge of cringy, which did encourage a few eye rolls and awkward squirms.

Nolan really does push his audience into take a leap of faith in trusting his vision, enforcing you to forget about preconceived notions about where he’ll take this galactic adventure. Jessica Chastain plays a likable, older Murph but alas, gets lost in the middle section of the film, which desperately tries to keep the father/daughter relationship going but gets lost in the turbulence of the expedition. The best and most human lines go, ironically, to TARS, the AI assistant. TARS provides some much needed comedy relief throughout the narrative, creating genuine and humorous bonds between man and machine – particularly with Cooper.

Interstellar is a turbulent journey that features flaws which will no doubt completely divide audiences. Nolan never patronizes viewers but in doing so, runs the risk of losing them to complex and ever changing scientific jargon. Dialogue which strives to be euphoric but sways towards cliche will stop some movie goers from fully giving in to Nolan’s hypnotic way of film making. However, the visuals are genuinely incredible, leaving you with a sense of wanderlust that goes beyond the stars.  

McConaughey completely over shadows any of his other cast mates with a performance that solidifies his position as one of Hollywood’s most sought after actors. His journey from rom-com hunk to multilateral, deep character actor is one to be admired and envied.

Interstellar will not reach as wide an audience as other Nolan blockbusters, instead it will open up a new type of movie goer that will fully submerge themselves into Nolan’s creating and will struggle to find something else so beautifully portrayed and effortlessly told. 

Verdict 

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