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Aug 05, 2011 By Chris Tinkham #37 – St. Vincent

Seventeen-year-old New Haven high school student Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), fascinated with the stars since she was a kid, has been accepted into MIT, but, on the night that a “blue star” is discovered, she makes a life-altering mistake that lands her in prison. When she’s released four years later, the “blue star” is hovering about as close as the moon and has been identified as a mirror Earth, or Earth 2. Rhoda slowly begins to rehabilitate from a lifeless state, taking on a janitorial job and cleaning the house of a former composer/college music professor (William Mapother). The two damaged souls form an unlikely bond influenced by the looming Earth 2.

Co-written by director Mike Cahill and Marling, Another Earth is the second collaboration between the two, who also co-directed the 2004 documentary Boxers and Ballerinas. Another Earth is a unique hybrid of sci-fi and moody, character-driven indie drama. Think 21 Grams or Monster’s Ball with a Rod Serling touch. There are unwelcome narrative clichés and some flawed science, and, late in the film, the proceedings begin to feel like a means to an end. But, in an era when movie endings have become a lost art, Another Earth satisfies. (www.foxsearchlight.com/anotherearth)

Author rating: 6/10