Another Earth

Saw Another Earth, a hard-sci-fi film about a planet that is discovered slowly entering our solar-system. It turns out to be an exact duplicate of Earth. Really though, this film is about second chances. I suppose hard-sci-fi is the wrong term for this film. It focuses almost completely on the characters. The second earth is almost a backdrop for their relationships. There's no crazy visuals and even the socio-political impact of the second earth is relegated to background noise.

So, the story is this: a girl with a bright future ahead of herself gets distracted by the other earth while driving. She plows into a family, killing everyone except the father and then goes directly to jail. When she is released from jail, a few years later, the second earth is all over the headlines, but she is more interested in crucifying herself over the accident. She hears of a Mars One-style contest to get a trip to Earth 2 (as the other earth is called. I believe the name is even meant to evoke Mars One.) This trip becomes a symbolic hope for escape for the girl.

Her release from prison is a second chance. It carries with it an implicit hope for a better future. Unable to forgive herself, she purposefully sabotages this future (asking the unemployment office for a job in manual labor for example.) The trip becomes a suicide-like retreat from the world she knows. Then it is revealed that the other earth is a mirror image of this earth, down to the people and the lives of this earth. Even this pseudo-death will be a second chance. She is stuck on this treadmill of chances until she can break free by forgiving herself. It's very karmic.

The film is fairly slow and, for all of its sci-fi trappings, the film is more interested in the philosophy of forgiveness. (Also, there's a bit of a nerd-rage moment when they promulgate the flat earth myth.) I didn't enjoy the film very much. It was too slow and also the characters didn't behave in a very believable way. They are supposed to be sort of idealized people, embodying self-loathing and guilt, and behaving more like symbols than like humans. They move and speak in a soothing, meditative way that invites contemplation but also sleep. I believe they do achieve the wisdom they're seeking, it's just that they're very restrained getting there. I'd prefer more hysteria or, failing that, more visuals. Oh well.