Another Earth (2011)

On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.

Director:

Mike Cahill

Writers:

Mike Cahill, Brit Marling

Stars:

William Mapother, Brit Marling, Matthew-Lee Erlbach

7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Mapother	...	John Burroughs
Brit Marling	...	Rhoda Williams
Matthew-Lee Erlbach	...	Alex
DJ Flava	...	Himself (voice)
Meggan Lennon	...	Maya Burroughs
AJ Diana	...	Amos Burroughs
Bruce Colbert	...	Symposium Speaker
Paul Mezey	...	Symposium Speaker
Ana Valle	...	Symposium Speaker
Jeffrey Goldenberg	...	Symposium Speaker
Joseph A. Bove	...	Symposium Speaker (as Joseph Bove)
Jordan Baker	...	Kim Williams
Flint Beverage	...	Robert Williams
Robin Taylor	...	Jeff Williams (as Robin Lord Taylor)
Rupert Reid	...	Keith Harding

Storyline

Seventeen year-old Rhoda Williams receives an acceptance letter from MIT and she celebrates with her friends. On the same night, a planet similar and close to Earth is discovered and called Earth 2. Rhoda drives her car looking at Earth 2 and crashes with composer John Burroughs, killing his pregnant wife and his baby son. Rhoda goes to prison and four years later she is released and moves to her parents' house. She finds a job as high-school janitor, but tries to commit suicide. She survives, however, and submits an essay to a contest where the prize is a ticket to travel to Earth 2. Meanwhile the scientists discover that Earth 2 is a mirror of Earth and the synchronicity between the dwellers was interrupted when the planets were seen by each other. One day, Rhoda decides to visit John Burroughs, whose life was destroyed after the death of his family, to admit to him that she had killed his family. However she does not have the nerve to tell him the truth. So she lies and tells him ...

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Plot Keywords:

solar system | duplicate | student | planet | bedroom | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, some sexuality, nudity and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

A Outra Terra

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$77,740 (USA) (22 July 2011)

Gross:

$1,316,074 (USA) (30 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artists Public Domain

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Williams's house is actually director Mike Cahill's mother's house.

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Goofs

When Rhoda runs out of the house after the television broadcast, the cameraman's shadow is visible on her for a few seconds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rhoda Williams: I saw this image when I was a kid. The photograph of Jupiter taken by NASAs Voyager. Beautiful. But nothing special until shown in rapid succession. Suddenly Jupiter was alive. Breathing. I was hypnotized.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.1 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Another Earth"
Performed by Natalia Paruz
Written by Scott Munson
Published by Ameriklectic Music

User Reviews

Rather beautiful and sad

I went to the cinema on the spur of the moment, I had a couple of hours to kill. I scanned the billboard for anything that might seem vaguely interesting - "Another Earth" sounded science fiction-y so I bought my ticket and went in.

It's important I explain this for two reasons: first because I saw this movie "tabula rasa", having not seen trailers, read reviews or having any idea what it was about. Secondly it became evident from the bad- tempered muttering in the back I wasn't the only one to have done this.

At first I struggled with the concept, but I kept an open mind and a very different movie to the one I thought I would see developed, and was actually quite well done. After about 20 minutes I was ready to get up and leave, but giving it time paid back dividends, by the last half-hour I had become too involved to consider leaving.

The story is a slow burner that grips you incrementally, and while the occasionally grainy or out of focus shots give you the strong impression this was made on a shoestring, that is no reason to hold anything against it. Having seen the high budget yawn-fest "Transformers" I can actually say that given the current state of big budget science fiction this is a refreshing, if a bit left-field approach to the genre.

Evidently my companion viewers in the cinema, a small group of guys, were not getting as much out of the deeply troubled love story that forms the basis of the plot, and they made their discontent very audible to my irritation.

In brief, not a film for everyone, but if you're in the mood for an introspective slow-burner and you've got the patience for it, this film will prove a rewarding experience