The romantic comedy is a genre frequented by yours truly. I enjoy nothing more than a love story, as anyone who knows me can attest. When I was getting ready to watch Moonshot for the first time, I didn’t really know what to expect. All I knew was that there was some sort of love triangle, it was set in the future, and it involved space. After seeing it, I can attest that this movie, though centered around a love story, is so much more than that.
The film, while a rom-com at its core, also contained the question “why are we enraptured by Mars?” Taking place in 2049, Moonshot features a universe where Mars is in the beginning stages of colonization and has become a destination for the wealthy and a collection of fortunate, hand-selected, academics. Walt, one-half of the love story, played by Cole Sprouse, has applied to a selective program to go to Mars thirty-seven times. He has also, much to his chagrin, struggled with being identified as “average” throughout the film. Sophie, a brilliant scientist, has her heart set on Mars for a different reason: her boyfriend and his family that live there. Sophie, played by the incomparable Lana Condor, does not want to go to Mars to seek ambition, rather she is more passionate about saving the Earth. In a scene where Walt and Sophie ruminate on the question of “why Mars?” Sophie responds that Mars is our mirror. Mars represents our desire to start over, to scrap the initial design, rather than to fix what we broke.
Interestingly, the film leaves questions about the future of the planet up in the air, which adds to a keen sense of realism. It does not end with the immediate rescue of Earth or some miracle plan to fix everything. Rather, the film focuses on Walt and Sophie’s journey to find each other. Though the audience is undoubtedly relieved that the two are able to realize their feelings, there is an unresolved tension over what happens next. Cole Sprouse addressed this dissonance in a roundtable, saying that “I think the movie really deals with a question…of what should our focus really be upon, resource-wise? Should it be upon the future and prepping… another space of existence for us on a different planet or do we deal with the present issue and put our resources towards saving something that already exists?”
Moonshot is a testament to hope and what the “average” man can do. It reminds its audience that love can give you the strength to hope and build a better future and paints a picture of that love in the shadow of an existential threat, something that many in our generation can relate to. It is also a call to action; a reminder that keeping your eyes on the sky does not mean that we lose sight of what we already have.
Moonshot premieres on HBO Max on March 31st. Special thanks to Warner Brothers and their campus representatives for allowing Her Campus at U Mich early access to the film.