Proxima

 

Space travel has been the topic of films almost since the beginning of films, but certainly since the space program has been in existence. I believe what makes this film, "Proxima" a standout from the rest is that it shows us what these astronauts actually go through prior to their respective mission, which makes it different and interesting.

Sarah Loreau (Eva Green) is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous space program along with American astronaut Mike Shannon (Matt Dillon) and Russian astronaut Anton Ocheivsky (Aleksey Pateev). Their training is to prepare them for a year-long mission called Proxima aboard the International Space Station (ISS). What makes it truly difficult for Sarah is her separation from her daughter Stella (Zelie Boulant), in which they have an incredibly strong bond. During the training, Sarah and Stella are able to see one another, however not as often as they are used to, so between Sarah's intense training and not having the freedom to 'connect' with Stella, it becomes trying at best.

Others to round out the cast are Lars Eidinger as Thomas Akerman, Sarah's husband, Sandra Huller as Wendy Hauer, Sarah's coordinator, Trond-Erik Vassal as Jurgen, Nancy Tate as Naomi Shannon, Mike's wife and Gregoire Colin as Sarah's doctor.

This was delineated well by director Alice Winocour ("Augustine" '12, "Disorder" '15) plus shorts. The way this filmmaker was able to work with Green in order to make her performance as realistic as it was--as far as she came across as effectively as an astronaut, but as a mother as well, was incredible. This certainly has to be Green's finest performance to date. Others that acted along side of her were solid and believable, but this was definitely Green's film and the directing surely helped. It was also creatively written by Winocour ("Augustine" '12, "Disorder" '15, "Mustang" '15) plus shorts and TV, with the collaboration of Jean-Stephane Bron. As the script went back and forth from Sarah seeing her daughter and then showing the training she was having to endure was almost like seeing a correlation being the two which made the story much more cohesive. It was basically a foreign film using both languages of French and English, which gave it a far better realistic view. Unless Green already was fluent in French, her ability to traverse the language was amazing. 

If space travel films are something you grasp, this is exhilarating. This is one of those few films about space travel that gives its audience a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be an astronaut before the rocket even lifts off. It actually comes across as a documentary without it being one. This was supposed to be released on 11-6-20 after doing a plethora of film festivals. But, as it approached time of release, because of the pandemic, it was sold to the internet. I then purchased it so I could critique it for you.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                         Rated: Not Rated                                       107mins.