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Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.
Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
With an onscreen career spanning almost 40 years, Brad Pitt has starred in his fair share of life-altering movies. Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, and Se7en all propose new perspectives on life, typically through the lens of some tragic or traumatic event.
A movie that often gets overlooked in that category is Pitt's 2019 space film, Ad Astra. The plot involves Pitt's Ron McBride, a widely-respected astronaut, on a mission to find his father, who disappeared on his own space mission 13 years prior. The film was not a box office success, and while Ad Astra impressed critics enough to earn a strong 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, it's telling that the audience score is a meager 40%.
Naturally, that prevents Ad Astra being considered among Pitt's most elite roles, but the movie's ability to have a lifelong impact is no less powerful.
Ad Astra Asks A Terrifying Question Other Sci-Fi Movies Typically Avoid
When it comes to depicting alien life, the sci-fi genre typically takes one of two routes: "There might be intelligent life out there somewhere, but we haven't found it yet," or "The aliens are here, good luck."
Ad Astra takes a strikingly different route, proposing the bold - if scientifically ridiculous - notion that humanity could one day travel to the other side of our solar system and verify whether other sentient life forms exist out in the vast reaches of space.
As it turns out, they don't.
The premise of knowing humans are alone in the universe, rather than just suspecting we might be, is a chilling one. That life begins and ends on Earth is a revelation far more terrifying and unnerving than the sight of a xenomorph or the sudden approach of a Borg cube. Some might argue that the rabid, flesh-eating primate is the scariest part of Ad Astra, but Mr. Tickles is nothing compared to the existential dread of figuring out that humanity's extinction would mean the end of all life in any form.
Ad Astra's ending doesn't shy away from the gravity of that bombshell. It's mentioned that members of the project reacted badly to finding nothing, and Roy's father is affected most deeply of all. Having dedicated himself to the exploration of space, the aging astronaut refuses to believe his data and would rather die attempting to disprove it.
Roy's dad looked into the emptiness of space and saw misery, hopelessness, and futility. Ad Astra forces the viewer to consider the same bleak prospect, and it's not difficult to relate to the astronauts disturbed by their cosmic loneliness. Ad Astra's claustrophobic settings and oppressive sound only accentuate the ominous sense of isolation waiting for Roy at the end of the solar system.
Pitt's Roy McBride is a lost soul throughout most of Ad Astra. Haunted by daddy issues and a misguided sense of professional duty, Roy has spent his entire adult life pushing others away.
Strangely, then, Roy's reaction to the absence of intelligent life in the universe is the complete opposite of his father's. Pitt's character returns to Earth with a deeper appreciation for the world he left behind - from the people he previously kept at arm's length to the simple, everyday joys we all take for granted.
It's not just burying the paternal hatchet that heals Roy, it's the inspiration to stop believing answers are waiting in the stars, and to start looking closer to home.
Ad Astra can be a life-changing movie in a positive or negative way. Either the movie forces you to examine the giant philosophical black hole of "what if there's nothing out there," like Roy's father does to his eventual destruction, or it forces you to become more mindful of the good stuff already down here on Earth, as with Brad Pitt's character.
Release Date September 17, 2019
Runtime 124 minutes
Director James Gray
Writers James Gray, Ethan Gross
English (US) ·