Guest Review: Another Earth (2011)

A Film Review by Tennessee Jed

This “indie” production is the first feature film collaboration between director Mike Cahill, and his long time friend, actress Brit Marling. They met while studying at Georgetown University, and co-produced and co-wrote Another Earth. Cahill directs, edits, and does cinematography while Marling takes lead acting responsibility. Made on a shoestring budget, the film received critical audience acclaim at the Sundance Festival, winning a distribution deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures. Largely unknown, this is an interesting film on several levels. Particularly noteworthy is the acting debut of Brit Marling. I unhesitatingly recommend this one, so letʼs discuss why, and review both strengths and weaknesses.

** spoiler alert **

The Plot - Rhoda Williams (Marling) is a high school senior celebrating early acceptance into M.I.T.ʼs astrophysics program. After drinks with some friends, she starts her drive home, and hears on the radio that a new previously “hidden” planet has been discovered, appears to be moving closer to Earth, and is visible to the naked eye in the evening. While sticking her head out the window to try and spot it, she crashes into John Burroughs (William Mapother) who is driving home with his family. His pregnant wife and child are both killed instantly, and he lapses into a coma. Instead of heading off to M.I.T., Rhoda finds herself a convicted felon sentenced to nearly four years in jail.

The story quickly jumps ahead to her release as she returns home to live with her parents and younger brother. Profoundly changed by the experience, Rhoda takes a job as a school janitor to limit her contact with others. She learns that Burroughs had been a music professor at Yale University and highly regarded composer.

Attempting to work through her guilt, Rhoda visits the crash scene on the 4th anniversary of the accident, and sees Burroughs (recovered from his coma) leave a toy as a memorial. Later, she is compelled to visit his home to try to apologize, but when he opens the door, she is unable to summon the courage to do so, instead claiming to be an employee of a maid service offering a free trial cleaning. At first, John refuses, but reconsiders, given that his house represents a drunken disaster of trash and empty liquor bottles. Clearly he too is still coping with enormous grief. After seeing the great job she does, he reluctantly agrees to let her come once a week.

At this point, just as the story seems headed in an all too predictable dramatic direction, another concurrent plot-line begins to take shape. The new planet with its moon now dominates the sky. Evidently it is not merely similar to earth, but an actual mirror image. Whenever Rhoda is not working, she is transfixed by the object that caused her life to change so dramatically. As national news networks carry a live feed, Dr. Joan Talis (Diane Ciesla), a government scientist, attempts to contact potential life forms there. The entire world is shocked when she not only receives a vocal reply, but the response is apparently from Dr. Talis herself. This information raises the potential specter of the “other” earth as some kind of parallel universe existing adjacent to our own. Speculation begins immediately as to whether everyone on our earth has a corresponding “duplicate” on the other. A wealthy entrepreneur sponsors a mission to the other earth, and promises to take along the winner of an essay contest about why the writer wishes to go. Of course, Rhoda writes an essay and enters.

While that plot thread moves forward, Rhoda and John continue to build their relationship, gradually realizing they have each made the other smile and laugh again. Soon, things escalate to a more romantic and physical level. Inevitably, Rhoda learns she has been chosen as the winner of the essay contest, and rushes to tell John. He immediately toasts her stating “to your most improbable dream coming true,” then decides to cook her a celebratory dinner. After dinner, realizing how much he cares for her, John pleads with Rhoda to stay with him and not go to the other world. In what is perhaps the most emotional moment in the movie, she explains why she cannot remain, and finally confesses her true identity. However, to find out how this all ultimately plays out, you will need to either see the film or seek out a review that spills the beans.

Strengths - The two main characters are believable and sell the story. Enough credibility straining plot holes exist to potentially sink this film were it not for the superb performance of the two lead actors. Mapother is a character actor with recognizable, memorable facial features. Heʼs best known for In the Bedroom, and as a recurring character on Lost. By drawing from his own experience and talking with people who have had similar experiences, his interpretation of John Burroughs feels very real.

Brit Marling is nothing short of amazing in her debut performance and credits her work as co-writer for allowing her to “become the character”. I had been greatly impressed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film Winterʼs Bone, but must state Marling is equally impressive here. Perhaps the fact neither was well known at the time of release adds to their credibility, but I expect to see a continuation of good things in the future from both Marling and Lawrence.

A second positive is that the film is devoid of political agenda themes that make many of todayʼs films distasteful. The story was developed from a conversation between Cahill and Marling about what it would actually be like to encounter a true Doppleganger. From this, they slowly developed their story, one which is ultimately hopeful.

The final major strength is the integration of two very different genreʼs into a single film. The underlying story is a fairly standardized drama about how two people sharing a common tragedy relate to each other; the second is a science fantasy about parallel realities, dopplegangers, and how it might actually feel to meet or at least see yourself from the outside as others see you. Alone, these themes are hardly unique, but the combination of the two creates a nice twist that elevates the plot above the mundane and helps prevent it from descending to the level of cliché.

Weaknesses - The plot is, to say the least, highly improbable, and the science behind the duplicate planet is not at all well explained. While I did find this bothersome to an extent, I again point out that the skill of the two actors really shines through in selling their story, allowing the viewer to largely overlook the issue. I tend to agree with one reviewer who likened the story to an episode of Twilight Zone. Viewers of that series rarely had any problem suspending belief if the storyline itself was otherwise sufficiently engaging.

Cinematography, as might be expected, looks low budget. They couldnʼt afford elaborate sets or gaffers. But after viewing the special feature on the Blu-Ray disc where Cahill and Marling discuss the problems they faced, my appreciation is raised for the solutions they found. There are many views of the planet in the sky above New Haven—almost too many. I found myself thinking “o.k., I get it, thatʼs your big effect; now show me something different.”

I also found the romance that developed between John and Rhoda too predictable, almost inevitable, and as such, slightly off-putting. Had the film makers not added the twist of the duplicate planet, I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much despite the great acting.

Conclusion - As a first effort, it was nice to see these young film makers achieve some critical (if not financial) success. The film ends abruptly and leaves plenty of room for the viewer to ponder where the story might lead if it had continued. If you havenʼt seen it, at only 90 minutes, it should be well worth your time. Sound of My Voice, Marlingʼs second effort was released earlier this year, and after reading some reviews and seeing this film, I canʼt wait to see it. These are the films that keep my interest in movies alive.