Moon

"Hard" science fiction is difficult to come by these days. Perhaps it always was. But when it does appear it's pleasing to discover one as satisfying as Moon.

I'm hesitant to mention the premise at the heart of Moon as I think it would be great to see it without knowing, however I suspect few would set out to watch it without knowing. It's less "Snapes kills Dumbledore" and more "Harry Potter is a wizard",  the main theme and not so much the twist. However, if you  have thus far managed to avoid any and all information about the film, I strongly advise you to stop reading and to watch the film instead. I personally would envy the experience.

If you're still reading and did not know the following, you only have yourself to blame: Sam Rockwell turns in an excellent performance as Sam Bell, Sam Bell, and briefly Sam Bell and Sam Bell. All but one of whom is not really Sam Bell, but in fact a unknowing clone. The films only other character is GERTY, the moon bases lovable and brilliantly realised AI computer and companion, who's role in events is surprising and ever so slightly charming.

The reasons for the cloning are never made awfully clear. The two main Sam Bell's speculate and assume but with the limited information they have access to, they and you are mostly in the dark, which made it all the more compelling (cost cutting is the explanation postulated, but the scale of the conspiracy seems to render that questionable). The film is concerned instead largely with the effect this has on Sam and Sam, their reactions to it, the isolation, each other and the differences between them, all while they slowly discover and reveal the true nature of their task.

The situation poses a multitude of wonderful questions, but Moon never seeks to impose it's own answers, positions or morality. It understands that this is the way of good science fiction. It could so easily have all been ruined by neat and saccharine resolutions, but instead it contains no easy victories and remains staunchly open ended.