Proxima

Ten Second Review: An intriguing and intimate take on the parent and child space story that has been so popular in recent years.

Back in a cinema seat. It feels good. Strange, but good. I can’t say I wasn’t ever so slightly tense and that I wasn’t occasionally distracted by the current situation’s effect on the cinema setting. It’s bound to play on our minds and in many ways it should. What we do for pleasure and self care during this very global and community effecting pandemic should be done consciously and in a way that mitigates harm if possible. This is not to ward against going outside, being in public spaces or consuming art and culture, but now more than ever, we need to consider what and how we are consuming. 

While pondering this position I also saw a film and it was quite enjoyable too. Months ago (although it feels longer than mere months now) I saw Ad Astra and while not mean, I wasn’t wholly kind to it. Proxima offers a necessary and interesting counterpoint to a film that I believe I dubbed a “paint-by-numbers-astro-Greek-tragedy”. 

A father and son story is replaced with a mother and daughter story. Voiding the epic grandeur of the cosmos, space takes rather a back seat in this intimate tale of the emotional turmoil of leaving a child on terra firma for the great beyond (or the ISS in this case).

Eva Green in the main role of Sarah Loreau is fantastic. The film sees her succeed in her life long mission to go into space. While beyond exciting, this achievement also means she’ll have to leave her daughter for months of training and then at least 6 months of time on the International Space Station. Their relationship and understanding of each-other  forms the bedrock of the film’s story and space travel fades to become a backdrop to some touching storytelling.

The film is not groundbreaking but often these smaller films tell some rather timeless narratives and in this instance I feel it’s done quite well. I actually feel it would play particularly well as the opener to a triple bill of parent-child Astro-films. Proxima, Ad Astra and Interstellar all offer very different but interconnected stories about the human condition and parental relationships. What really matters to us against a back drop of infinite space? 

I would not say you should run out to the cinema to see this film, it doesn’t hugely benefit from the big screen and I understand that going to cinema at the moment is not a priority for most. I would say that when it pops up on streaming services it is worth a watch and for those who enjoy it, I remain it would make a perfect first act to a modern space travel triple bill.