Rent Proxima (2019)

So near and yet so far - Proxima review by JD

This was a very well produced and interesting movie with an unusual storyline - how a lady astronaut copes with the preparations for a space flight to Mars while looking after her young daughter.

Sadly the movie was ruined for me by the storyline going awol in the last 5 mins !  

Fascinating subject - unconvincing result - Proxima review by AER

I really wanted to like Proxima given its interesting concept of an astronaut's relationship with her child as they prepare for a year's separation. A miscast Eva Green plays the astronaut and Matt Dillon is the mission commander. It's filled with plot inconsistencies and a lack of depth. It's a shame that much of this lies on the surface. Matt Dillon is also saddled with a badly-fitted role. His astronaut is sexist and fairly unlikeable. It's a shame as the training exercises are interesting to watch and the hardware is very cool. It's well-made but somehow slight and unconvincing. Shame as the subject matter betrays something a little more interesting.

A Female Route to Space - Proxima review by NR

Within the prolific genre of space travel movies Winocourt's film stands out as a more female view.

There is some action - some rockets revving, as it were - but In fact the majority of the movie tracks French scientist Sarah (Eva Green), as she prepares for her trip up to the international space station. In particular the story explores her relationship with her only daughter, played wonderfully by Zelie Boulant - who comes across as serious, quirky, vulnerable and questioning - as the girl reconciles herself to the fact of mum blasting off into the universe, sensing that this must be dangerous (and certainly takes mum away). An issue made more sensitive by the fact of her parents' separation.

At the core of the movie is this mother daughter relationship, placed into an extreme and unusual situation, or sense of tension or flux. As such the movie is extremely touching and sensitive, and can be recommended for this aspect, and the context in which the relationship is placed.

Father is also a physicist and definitely takes a backseat (in the movie, that is), as a part-time dad.

The film gives an entirely different perspective to this 'moon shot' narrative. The First Man film, about Neil Armstrong was very powerful and affecting (with the subplot of Armstrong's lost daughter). Winocourt's movie gives a female perspective, as stated above, by revealing the family implications and the life context, faced by a scientist undertaking such a trip. Of course the majority of films in this genre tend to concentrate on a masculine involvement in the 'space race', the subject of rivalry and competition, and what is the almost comical symbolism of thrust one's big rocket into the void - as indicated by recent real life billionaire aspirants to this goal. We think of the Right Stuff as a classic in the genre, yet the very acme of machismo.

With Proxima, we follow a story which is the antithesis of the tradition, and which undercuts expectations.

In addition to the character's personal circumstances (which encroach on her ambition) we follow Sarah's progress through the Space Station training, and preparation, based in Russia, or one of the Russian states (which seems to be on location). There she meets with the tough tests and endurance exercises, deemed necessary for the rocket launch and time in space. Along the way she encounters Matt Dillon's Mike, an experienced American, who seems skeptical about Sarah's ability and intentions. To begin with he seems like a stereotypical 'jock' type, with some sexist assumptions about a female astronaut. As the pair get to know each other better, dissolving misleading first impressions, the movie subverts these assumptions, and Dillon's character begins to develop as scenes unfold. She's able to cut it and he's more simpatico.

Therefore, don't expect a Science Fiction narrative, or particularly a Space narrative. Rather a detailed and sensitive psychological portrayal of a would-be female astronaut, against the dilemmas of motherhood and the more petty problems of life on earth.

There are many breath-taking moments in the plot, (the space theme is not a mere backdrop) some suspense indeed, as Sarah builds to her big launch.

We get insight about the procedures and training needed for her, to prepare for a space journey. The performances are superb and authentic locations add to the 'verite' feeling of the movie.

Nothing like The First Martian - Proxima review by SC

I got this film along with Keltoum's Daughter, the latter being a Moroccan film made in I think 1971. Now usually I avoid 1970s films like the plague: some of them were good at the time, but most are now very unsatisfying - but I like Moroccan music. Keltoum's Daughter starts off with all the hallmarks of a crappy 1970s film, but turns out to be actually very good. As soon as it finished I went on-line and managed to get a dvd of the film for about £7. Proxima on the other hand is a very modern film, and it has Eva Green not playing a teacher in it. I imagine that originally the idea was to make a film about an astronaut who goes to Mars, and how his son copes with this and the subsequent dismemberment of his father when the ship crashed on the journey home. But then someone must have decided it would be more p.c. and hip if the astronaut was female and the son replaced with a daughter, and the bit of the story where the ship is in space had to be omitted because all that faffing around about whether to have a male or female spaceman took up time and money and they simply couldn't do all that special effects stuff. So what we end up with is a very tedious sort of documentary-like film about a mother and her daughter.....like we need any more of those, and it's called Proxima. If you have a wife or girlfriend who's determined to see this film and you have to watch it with her, my advice: take some Class A drugs first, and have a trunk of beers handy.