You’re only five minutes into “Gravity” and you’re already curled up into a ball in your seat. Your jaw’s set, and your heart’s pounding. You’re just peeking over your knees at the screen because, even though you’re terrified, you can’t tear your eyes away.
How would you react if you were cut loose into outer space? What would you do if you were spinning and somersaulting over and over with no way of getting back to your space shuttle or righting yourself? In outer space, there is no gravity. How would you save yourself? Is it ever right to give up on life?
Alfonso Cuarón’s newest film, “Gravity,” challenges viewers with questions about death, life, fortitude, and how to know when life is still worth living.
“Gravity” opens with characters Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) working on a space-shuttle mission when debris from a Russian missile strike rushes towards their craft, destroying the shuttle and killing all team members save Stone and Kowalski. The film charters their journey through space as the pair search for a way home to Earth.
From an artistic standpoint, “Gravity” does not disappoint. Panoramic images of Earth and the expanse of stars are frequent, humbling the audience with the simple splendor and size of the universe. Cuarón deftly weaves slow, quiet moments into high-adrenaline scenes pumped with chaos. One moment Kowalski is cracking jokes to keep Stone’s mind off her terror, the next moment the two are crashing into a space station, bumping and skidding over the surface as they grasp at anything that might stop them from hurtling back into open space. In one scene, Stone thrusts herself into the space station and strips off her space suit just so she can breathe. A floating Stone closes her eyes and curls into a fetal position among drifting pens, pipes, and tools. The image evokes peace, relaxing the viewer for one blessed moment before Stone is forced to confront an out-of-control fire.
For most of the film, Stone is paralyzed by panic and relies on Kowalski to guide her through the motions. When Stone loses Kowalski, the real journey begins. Because death is so close and so real, Stone must come to terms with her own potential fate. She verbally recognizes that everyone dies, but fear grips her so tightly that she can’t function or think clearly.
Kowalski, who has accepted the fact that death is very near and almost inevitable, tells Stone, “You’re going to have to learn to let go.”
Kowalski’s words incite Stone to do more than let go of her fear of death. Stone knows all about death. While drifting in space with Kowalski, Stone reluctantly describes her own daughter’s death. For Stone, death has always been something real and concrete. What she doesn’t understand is that even though death comes for all of us, we can’t stop living.
We all die. The question is, what are we going to do with the days, minutes, and moments until death? Are we going to sit in dread of fate, or are we going to shake our fear and live the lives we’ve been given?
When Stone decides to live every moment fighting to get back home, she finds new peace amidst her terror and loneliness, and new fortitude to do what she can to get back to Earth.
Cuarón’s experiment with philosophy and masterful handle on visual effects offer viewers a film worth seeing. “Gravity” is breathtaking in all its terror and beauty. The audience is forced to think about the phrase, “everyone dies” while experiencing the sun emerging around the rim of the Earth and space stations exploding among the stars.
Prepare to leave the theater emotionally drained and physically exhausted.
